OUR  UNITED  STATES  ARMY 


OUR 
UNITED   STATES   ARMY 


BY 

HELEN  S.  WRIGHT 

\l 
AUTHOR  OF  "THE  GREAT  WHITE  NORTH."  "THE  VALLEY  OF  LEBANON."  ETC. 


WITH  AN  INTRODUCTION 
By  MAJOR-GENERAL  LEONARD  WOOD 


1917 

ROBERT  J.    SHORES 

NEW  YORK 


Copyrighted,  1917,  by 
Robert  J.  Shores,  Publisher 


IMPORTANT  NEW  BOOKS 

DOLLARS  AND  CENTS 

By  Albert  Pay  son  Terhune 

BUCKING  THE  TIGER 

By  Achmed  Abdullah 

THE  MASTER  OF  BONNE  TERRE 

By  William  Antony  Kennedy 

HEART  MESSAGES  FROM  THE  TRENCHES 
By  Nellie  Rosilla  Taylor 

THE  DESTINY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES 
By  Snell  Smith 

THE  ANCIENT  QUEST 

By  Reginald  Wright  Kauffman 

THE  DRUMS  AND  OTHER  POEMS 

By  Walter  Romeyn  Benjamin 


DEDICATION 

To  those,  whose  heroic  work,  invaluable  to  the  development 
of  our  Great  Nation,  is  performed  in  silence  and  obscurity. 


M194954 


INTRODUCTION 
BY  MAJOR-GENERAL  LEONARD  WOOD 

HELEN  S.  WRIGHT  has  presented  briefly  and  in  com- 
pact form  a  summary  of  the  Army's  work  in  the  devel- 
opment and  building  up  of  our  country. 

Our  people  understand  little  of  the  Army's  work  aside 
from  its  purely  military  activities.  The  average  citizen 
looks  upon  the  Army  simply  as  a  destructive  force,  sel- 
dom appreciating  that  it  is  one  of  the  strongest  construc- 
tive forces  we  have  ever  had. 

The  author  begins  with  the  early  work  of  the  Army, 
follows  it  through  the  Indian  days,  its  various  activities 
after  the  Civil  War,  and  finally  ends  with  briefly  touching 
upon  its  constructive  work  in  Cuba,  Porto  Rico,  the  Phil- 
ippines and  Panama,  emphasizing  the  fact  that  the 
foundation  of  the  existing  civil  governments  in  Cuba, 
the  Philippines  and  Panama  were  laid  by  soldiers,  and 
that  the  foundation  was  so  securely  laid  that  the  civil 
governments  which  followed  had  a  comparatively  easy 
task. 

In  dealing  with  Panama,  the  importance  of  Reed's 
great  discovery  in  Yellow  Fever  is  brought  out,  a  discov- 
ery which  has  made  the  western  tropics  a  white  man's 
country  for  all  time  through  ridding  it  of  its  most 
dreaded  scourge.  A  sincere  tribute  is  paid  not  only  to 
the  great  engineer  who  constructed  the  canal,  but  to  the 
great  sanitary  work  of  Gorgas  and  his  assistants,  a  work 


v 


INTRODUCTION 


which  made  the  other  work  possible,  for  had  the  old  con- 
ditions of  yellow  fever  and  malaria  prevailed,  it  is  doubt- 
ful if  the  work  could  have  been  pushed  through  without 
such  loss  as  would  have  paralyzed  the  best  conceived 
plans  and  the  most  carefully  thought  out  organization. 
Much  might  be  added  to  this  little  volume,  if  space 
permitted,  of  the  work  of  the  Army  in  various  minor 
fields  of  activity;  its  work  as  a  life  saver  and  an  advance 
agent  of  civilization.  Enough  has  been  said,  however, 
to  bring  to  the  attention  of  the  people  the  general  con- 
structive work  of  the  Army  and  the  great  part  it  has 
played  in  the  nation's  up-building. 


PREFACE 

IT  is  my  purpose  to  present  in  the  following  pages  a 
few  examples  of  the  manifold  activities  of  the  Army  of 
the  United  States,  the  importance  and  economic  signifi- 
cance of  which  have  been  overshadowed  by  historians 
in  the  tragic  drama  and  far-reaching  results  of  our  Na- 
tion's wars. 

It  has  only  been  possible  to  touch  lightly  and  incom- 
pletely the  high  marks  of  this  civil  side  of  the  Army's 
work,  a  subject  which  covers  a  wide  range  of  time  and 
country. 

At  this  hour  it  may  be  well  to  pause  and  consider  what 
the  Nation  owes  to  its  Army  in  the  past;  to  remember 
that  the  onward  march  of  progress  and  civilization  in  the 
Great  West,  in  the  face  of  Indian  hostilities  and  depre- 
dations, was  made  possible  only  by  that  little  force  of 
armed  soldiers  that  blazed  the  way  and  stood  guard  to 
protect  the  lives  and  property  of  our  adventurous  set- 
tlers, that  the  soldier's  fair  and  just  treatment  of  Indians 
has  secured  their  lasting  affection  and  regard,  and  many 
of  the  important  ethnological  studies  of  the  plains  tribes 
were  made  by  officers  of  the  Army. 

Since  the  beginning  of  our  history,  the  Army  has  been 
engaged  actively  in  forwarding  the  progressive  work  of 
administration  and  government;  during  and  after  the 
Mexican  War  in  occupying  and  forming  governments  in 
the  territories  acquired  from  Mexico. 

The  Civil  War  trained  millions  of  young  men  of  high 


x  PREFACE 

spirit  in  aggressive  action,  not  only  against  men  but 
against  the  forces  of  nature,  and  these  men,  who  had 
built  railroads,  bridges  and  roads  in  the  theatre  of  active 
operations,  were  turned  loose  into  the  West  at  the  end,  to 
push  forward  the  transcontinental  railways  and  the  fron- 
tier with  a  new  energy  and  ability  that  nothing  could 
hinder  nor  stop. 

No  mention  has  been  made  in  this  volume  of  the  valu- 
able explorations  in  the  Arctic,  because  these  records  and 
that  of  the  "Farthest  North"  made  by  Brainard  and 
Lockwood  in  1882,  are  to  be  found  in  the  author's  pre- 
vious book,  "The  Great  White  North,"  and  a  repetition 
of  these  stories  of  heroic  adventure  and  brilliant  scien- 
tific work  seemed  inadvisable. 

There  is  the  proud  record  of  the  Army's  prompt  action 
in  abnormal  times  of  fire,  flood,  and  earthquake,  notably 
in  the  relief  work  in  San  Francisco  in  1906. 

Since  the  Spanish  War  made  the  United  States  a  world 
power,  the  Army  has  led  the  way  in  the  government  of 
dependencies — in  Porto  Rico,  Cuba,  and  the  Philippines. 
It  has  spread  the  means  of  communication  over  Alaska, 
and  explored  and  mapped  it. 

The  reading  public  is  familiar  with  the  magnificent 
work  of  the  Army  surgeons  in  driving  yellow  fever  out 
of  Cuba  and  Panama ;  in  waging  a  successful  campaign 
against  uncinariasis  in  Porto  Rico,  and  being  pioneers  in 
anti-typhoid  vaccination ;  in  ridding  Cuba  and  the  Phil- 
ippines of  smallpox  and  controlling  cholera.  Its  per- 
sistent efforts  have  made  sanitation  in  Cuba,  Panama, 
and  the  Philippines  one  of  the  most  important  of  govern- 
mental functions. 

If  I  have  seemingly  slighted  the  greatest  achievement 
in  engineering  skill  of  all  history,  the  building  of  the 
Panama  Canal,  it  is  because  that  is  a  single  instance 


PREFACE  xi 

where  the  nation  has  taken  an  active  and  appreciative 
attitude  toward  the  masterly  minds  that  successfully 
accomplished  this  stupendous  undertaking. 

The  Army  of  the  United  States  has  struggled  hard  for 
proper  maintenance  and  development  for  many  years. 
The  innate  prejudice  of  our  citizens  against  a  military 
establishment,  commensurate  with  the  size  of  our  nation, 
has  wrought  havoc  with  any  form  of  a  military  policy 
in  the  United  States. 

It  is  the  purpose  of  this  book  to  awaken  a  better  under- 
standing of  what  the  Army  has  accomplished  in  the  past, 
what  it  maintains  for  the  present,  and  the  high  standard 
of  honest  administration  and  unswerving  loyalty  which 
at  all  times  and  under  all  conditions  have  been  its  unfail- 
ing characteristics. 

For  the  most  part  my  material  has  been  gathered  from 
the  archives  of  the  War  Department,  from  official  re- 
ports, diaries  and  field  journals  of  offices,  from  autobi- 
ographies and  memoires. 

I  wish  to  make  acknowledgment  to  the  several  publish- 
ers who  graciously  permitted  me  to  quote  from  the  fol- 
lowing books :  to  G.  P.  Putnam's  Sons  for  citations  from 
"The  Plains  of  the  Great  West,"  by  the  late  Colonel 
Richard  Irving  Dodge;  to  D.  Appleton  and  Company 
for  quotations  from  General  Forsyth's  "Story  of  a  Sol- 
dier," and  General  Gorgas'  "Sanitation  in  Panama";  to 
the  Editor  of  the  Atlantic  Monthly  for  an  account  of 
the  Utah  Expedition;  to  the  Baker-Taylor  Company  for 
a  citation  from  the  "Autobiography  of  General  Howard" ; 
to  McClure,  Phillips  and  Company  for  a  paragraph  from 
the  "Life  of  Walter  Reed";  to  Doubleday,  Page  and 
Company  for  a  citation  from  Frederick  Raskins'  "Pan- 
ama Canal";  to  the  Saalfield  Publishing  Company  for 
material  from  "Personal  Recollections  of  General  Nel- 


xii  PREFACE 

son  A.  Miles,"  and  to  Mr.  John  Barrett  for  a  citation  on 
Panama.  I  also  wish  to  thank  the  many  friends  who 
made  it  possible  for  me  to  secure  the  material  for  which 
I  was  in  search. 

HELEN  S.  WRIGHT. 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

INTRODUCTION  BY  MAJOR-GENERAL  LEONARD  WOOD  .     .     .     .  vii 

PREFACE  BY  HELEN  S.  WRIGHT ix 

CHAPTER 

I    LEWIS  AND  CLARK  EXPEDITION .     .  1 

II    EXPLORATIONS  OF  PIKE,  LONG  AND  BONNEVILLE  ...  8 

III  FREMONT  AND  His  ADVENTURES 18 

IV  DOMESTIC  DISTURBANCES 31 

V    INDIAN  TREATIES  AND  WARFARE 43 

VI  LIEUTENANT  WHIPPLE'S  SURVEYS  AND  ADVENTURES     .    61 

VII  GOLD  AND  THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CALIFORNIA  ....     72 

VIII  TROUBLE  IN  KANSAS  AND  THE  MORMON  PROBLEM  .     .    77 

IX  EXPLORATION  OF  THE  COLORADO  RIVER 112 

X  BUILDING  OF  THE  TRANSCONTINENTAL  RAILROADS    .     .  142 

XI  THE  RECONSTRUCTION  OF  THE  SOUTH 165 

XII  ALASKA 188 

XIII  CUBA  AND  THE  PHILIPPINES 217 

XIV  ERADICATION  OF  DISEASE  BY  ARMY  MEDICAL  STAFF  .  245 
XV  THE  PANAMA  CANAL  .  265 


OUR 
UNITED    STATES   ARMY 

CHAPTER  I 
LEWIS  AND  CLARK  EXPEDITION 

THE  Continental  Army  had  hardly  been  disbanded  at 
the  close  of  the  American  Revolution,  before  the  immedi- 
ate necessity  of  a  Regular  Army  to  act  as  guards  of 
peace  became  a  momentous  question  to  the  American 
people. 

Measures  were  taken  without  delay  to  raise  a  body  of 
700  troops,  properly  officered  for  "securing  and  protect- 
ing the  Northwestern  frontiers,  to  defend  the  settlers 
on  the  land  belonging  to  the  United  States  from  the 
depredations  of  the  Indians  and  to  prevent  unwarrant- 
able intrusion  thereon,  and  for  guarding  the  public 
stores."  Hardly  had  this  small  body  of  men  been  scat- 
tered along  the  outlying  districts,  when  what  is  known 
as  Shay's  Rebellion  proved  to  the  Federal  Government 
the  necessity  of  enlarging  its  military  force. 

Under  the  leadership  of  Daniel  Shay,  some  two 
thousand  insurgents,  whose  grievances  consisted  of  a 
demand  for  paper  as  a  legal  tender,  and  in  a  determined 
resistance  to  taxation  under  the  State  laws,  after  forcing 
the  adjournment  of  the  Supreme  Court  then  sitting  at 

1 


2  OUR  UNITED  STATES 

Worcester,  Massachusetts,  assailed  the  Springfield 
Arsenal,  where  they  were  met  by  a  prompt  and  vigorous 
resistance  by  General  Shepherd  then  in  command.  With 
no  Federal  troops  available,  quiet  and  order  were  not 
restored  until  some  four  thousand  militia  under  General 
Lincoln  had  been  called  into  service  by  the  Governor  of 
Massachusetts. 

Under  the  Act  of  August  9,  1789,  Congress  established 
the  War  Department  and  assigned  to  its  control:  1st, 
All  military  commissioners ;  2nd,  The  land  Naval  forces ; 
ships  and  warlike  stores  of  the  government;  3rd,  All 
matters,  generally  pertaining  to  military  and  naval  affairs ; 
4th,  The  distribution  of  "bounty  lands"  to  all  soldiers 
and  ex-soldiers  entitled  thereto ;  5th,  Indian  affairs ;  6th, 
And  all  such  duties  connected  with  these  affairs  as  might 
be  assigned  to  the  Department  by  the  President  as  Com- 
mander in  Chief  of  the  Army  and  Navy.  So  broad 
was  the  scope  of  its  operations  that  it  practically  com- 
bined the  three  executive  departments  now  under  the 
separate  heads  of  War,  Navy  and  Interior. 

One  of  the  earliest  and  important  labors  of  the  De- 
partment and  one  which  had  been  especially  provided 
for  by  the  Constitution,  was  the  establishment  of  "an 
uniform  militia  throughout  the  United  States."  After 
much  dispute  in  both  Houses  of  Congress,  the  plans, 
with  some  modifications,  submitted  by  Secretary  Knox 
became  a  law  May  8,  1792.  Although  each  state  was 
supposed  to  assume  individual  responsibility  in  the 
organizing  of ' its  militia,  the  War  Department  was  con- 
stantly called  upon  and  responded  to  the  demand  for 
supply  arms,  instruction  and  general  guidance. 

Until  March  3,  1799,  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury 
had  made  "all  purchases  and  contracts  for  supplying 
the  army  with  provisions,  clothing,  supplies  in  quarter- 


ARMY  3 

master's  department,  military  stores,  Indian  goods,  and 
all  other  supplies  for  the  use  of  the  department  of  war." 
This  division  of  authority  had  caused  such  disastrous 
complications,  especially  in  the  mismanagement  by  the 
Treasury  Department  in  the  matter  of  supplying  Gen- 
eral St.  Clair  in  his  campaign  in  the  Northwest,  to  which 
his  failure  was  indirectly  due,  that  this  authority  was 
very  properly  transferred  to  the  Secretary  of  War. 

In  the  year  1793  the  first  of  our  sea  coast  defenses 
and  harbor  fortifications  had  occupied  the  energies  of 
skilled  engineers  appointed  for  this  purpose  and  who 
later  were  organized  by  Congress  into  that  branch  of  the 
Service  known  as  the  Corps  of  Artillerists  and  Engineers 
and  later  the  Corps  of  Engineers.  From  Maine  to  the 
Gulf  of  Mexico,  from  Lower  California  to  the  Arctic 
Circle,  and  in  our  Insular  Possessions,  are  now  estab- 
lished a  chain  of  important  fortifications  with  their  pow- 
erful armaments,  vast  extent  of  public  highways,  im- 
provements in  navigable  rivers,  harbors,  gulfs  and  lakes, 
and  the  engineering  feat  of  the  century,  the  construction 
of  the  Panama  Canal ;  all  of  great  value  to  the  extension 
of  our  commerce  throughout  the  Republic. 

On  the  20th  of  December,  1803,  the  complex  and  pro- 
longed wrangle  over  the  Louisiana  Purchase  had  resulted 
in  the  acquiring  by  the  United  States,  that  vast  area  of 
some  883,072  square  miles  of  territory  now  covered  by 
the  States  of  Louisiana,  Arkansas,  Missouri,  Iowa,  Ne- 
braska, the  Dakotas,  portions  of  the  States  of  Minnesota, 
Colorado,  Kansas,  Montana,  Oklahoma  and  Indian 
Territory. 

Before  it  became  part  of  the  United  States,  the  jealous 
disposition  of  the  Spaniards  and  French  had  debarred 
all  adventure  for  discoveries.  Immediately  upon  its 
acquisition  by  our  Government,  President  Jefferson  took 


4  OUR  UNITED  STATES 

prompt  measures  for  an  expedition  of  exploration,  its 
chief  object  being  to  aid  commerce  and  population. 

The  inception  of  this  remarkable  enterprise  was  of 
long  standing  with  the  president;  twice  he  had  promul- 
gated his  cherished  scheme  and  he  has  recorded  the 
gradual  development  and  eventual  fruition  of  his  hopes 
in  an  interesting  sketch  of  the  life  and  character  of  Cap- 
tain Meriwether  Lewis. 

"In  1792,"  writes  Jefferson,  "I  proposed  to  the  Amer- 
ican Philosophical  Society  that  we  should  set  on  foot  a 
subscription  to  engage  some  competent  person  to  explore 
that  region  in  the  opposite  direction;  that  is,  by  ascend- 
ing the  Missouri,  crossing  the  Stony  mountains,  and  de- 
scending the  nearest  river  to  the  Pacific. 

"In  1803  the  act  for  establishing  trading  houses  with 
Indian  tribes  being  about  to  expire,  some  modifications  of 
it  were  recommended  to  Congress  by  a  confidential  mes- 
sage of  January  19,  and  an  extension  of  its  views  to  the 
Indians  on  the  Missouri.  In  order  to  prepare  the  way, 
the  message  proposed  the  sending  an  exploring  party  to 
trace  the  Missouri  to  its  source,  to  cross  the  Highlands, 
and  follow  the  best  water  communication  which  offered 
itself  from  thence  to  the  Pacific  Ocean.  Congress  ap- 
proved the  proposition,  and  voted  a  sum  of  money  for 
carrying  it  into  execution.  Captain  Lewis,  who  had  then 
been  nearly  two  years  with  me  as  private  secretary,  im- 
mediately renewed  his  solicitations  to  have  the  direction 
of  the  party.  I  had  now  had  opportunities  of  knowing 
him  intimately.  Of  courage  undaunted;  possessing  a 
firmness  and  perseverance  of  purpose  which  nothing  but 
impossibilities  could  divert  from  its  direction;  careful  as 
a  father  of  those  committed  to  his  charge,  yet  steady  in 
the  maintenance  of  order  and  discipline;  intimate  with 
the  Indian  character,  customs,  and  principles;  habituated 


ARMY  5 

to  the  hunting  life ;  guarded,  by  exact  observation  of  the 
vegetables  and  animals  of  his  own  country,  against  losing 
time  in  the  description  of  objects  already  possessed;  hon- 
est, disinterested,  liberal,  of  sound  understanding,  and  a 
fidelity  to  trust  so  scrupulous  that  whatever  he  should 
report  would  be  as  certain  as  if  seen  by  ourselves, — with 
all  these  qualifications,  as  if  selected  and  implanted  by 
nature  in  one  body  for  this  express  purpose,  I  could  have 
no  hesitation  in  confiding  the  enterprise  to  him.  .  .  . 
Deeming  it  necessary  he  should  have  some  person  with 
him  of  known  competence  to  the  direction  of  the  enter- 
prise, in  the  event  of  accident  to  himself,  he  proposed 
William  Clarke,  brother  of  General  George  Rogers 
Clarke,  who  was  approved  and,  with  that  view,  received 
a  commission  of  captain." 

Their  company  consisted  of  about  thirty  men  including 
soldiers,  hunters  and  guides.  They  ascended  the  Mis- 
souri in  the  Spring  of  1804.  They  passed  the  Winter 
among  the  Mandans,  and  pushed  on  early  the  next 
Spring,  reaching  the  sources  of  the  Missouri  River. 

In  August,  1805,  Lieutenant  Clarke  makes  the  follow- 
ing entry  in  his  journal : 

"We  proceeded  on  in  the  boats,  as  the  river  was  very 
shallow  and  rapid,  the  navigation  is  extremely  difficult, 
and  the  men  who  are  almost  constantly  in  the  water  are 
getting  feeble  and  sore,  and  so  much  worn  down  by 
fatigue  that  they  are  very  anxious  to  commence  travelling 
by  land.  We  went  along  the  main  channel  which  is  on 
the  right  side;  and,  after  passing  nine  bends  in  that 
direction,  three  islands  and  a  number  of  bayous,  reached 
at  the  distance  of  five  and  a  half  miles  the  upper  point 
of  a  large  island.  At  noon  there  was  a  storm  of  thun- 
der, which  continued  about  half  an  hour,  after  which 
we  proceeded ;  but  as  it  was  necessary  to  drag  the 


6  OUR  UNITED  STATES 

canoes  over  the  shoals  and  rapids,  made  but  little 
progress. 

"On  leaving  the  island  we  passed  a  number  of  short 
bends,  several  bayous,  and  one  run  of  water  on  the  right 
side;  and,  having  gone  by  four  small  and  two  large 
islands,  encamped  in  a  smooth  plain  to  the  left  near  a 
few  cottonwood  trees.  Our  journey  by  water  was  just 
twelve  miles,  and  four  in  a  direct  line.  The  hunters 
supplied  us  with  three  deer  and  a  fawn." 

After  crossing  the  mountains  Lewis  and  Clarke  em- 
barked on  one  of  the  branches  of  the  Columbia  and  on 
November  15  reached  the  Pacific  at  the  mouth  of  that 
great  river,  having  travelled  over  4,000  miles.  They 
wintered  on  the  shores  of  the  Pacific  where  they  would 
have  starved  but  for  the  food  a  stranded  whale  afforded 
them.  They  were  utterly  unable  to  send  tidings  home 
by  way  of  either  Cape  Horn  or  the  Cape  of  Good 
Hope.  Years  after  a  notice  posted  at  this  desperate  time 
and  written  in  the  face  of  imminent  starvation  found  its 
way  by  way  of  Canton,  China,  back  to  civilization  at 
last  to  Philadelphia.  It  read: 

"The  object  of  this  notice  is,  that  through  the  medium 
of  some  civilized  person  who  may  see  the  same,  it  may 
be  made  known  to  the  informed  world  that  the  party  con- 
sisting of  the  persons  whose  names  are  hereunto  annexed 
and  who  were  sent  out  by  the  Government  of  the  United 
States,  in  May,  1804,  to  explore  the  interior  of  the  Conti- 
nent of  North  America,  did  penetrate  the  same  by  way 
of  the  Missouri  and  Columbia  Rivers  to  the  discharge 
of  the  latter  into  the  Pacific  Ocean,  where  they  arrived 
on  the  14th  of  November,  1805,  and  from  whence  they 
departed  the  (23rd)  day  of  March,  1806,  on  their  return 
to  the  United  States  by  the  same  route  they  had  come 
out." 


ARMY  7 

They  reached  St.  Louis  the  following  September,  after 
an  absence  of  two  years  and  four  months. 

A  most  significant  incident  in  the  return  journey  was 
the  meeting  of  a  party  of  emigrants,  the  forerunners 
of  our  present  western  civilization,  already  making  their 
toilsome  way  along  the  trail  so  recently  blazed. 

We  have  Jefferson's  recommendation  and  testimony  of 
the  value  of  this  enterprise. 

"The  expedition  of  Messrs.  Lewis  and  Clarke  for  ex- 
ploring the  River  Missouri  and  the  best  communication 
from  that  to  the  Pacific  Ocean  has  had  all  the  success 
which  could  be  expected.  They  have  traced  the  Missouri 
nearly  to  its  source;  descended  the  Columbia  to  the 
Pacific  Ocean,  ascertained  with  accuracy  the  geography 
of  that  interesting  communication  across  the  continent, 
learnt  the  character  of  the  country,  its  commerce  and 
inhabitants,  and  it  is  but  justice  to  say,  that  Messrs. 
Lewis  and  Clarke  and  their  brave  companions  have  by 
this  arduous  service  deserved  well  of  their  country. 

"TH.  JEFFERSON." 


CHAPTER  II 
EXPLORATIONS  OF  PIKE,  LONG  AND  BON  NEVILLE 

DURING  the  absence  of  Captain  Lewis  and  Lieutenant 
Clarke  a  contemporaneous  expedition  was  directed  by 
General  Wilkinson,  U.  S.  A.,  then  in  command  of  the 
Mississippi,  for  the  exploration  of  the  sources  of  that 
great  river.  Lieutenant  Zebulon  Montgomery  Pike,  a 
young  and  enthusiastic  officer  was  detailed  for  this  special 
work.  He  was  accompanied  by  a  sergeant,  two  corporals 
and  a  squad  of  seventeen  privates. 

His  general  instructions  were  to  make  treaties  with  the 
Indians  living  along  the  great  avenue  to  the  northwest, 
to  purchase  land  at  the  mouth  of  the  St.  Croix  River, 
from  the  Sioux  tribe,  for  a  government  military  post, 
and  incidentally  to  gather  as  much  scientific  information 
of  a  general  character  as  was  compatible  with  his  equip- 
ment and  education.  Leading  this  small  band  into  a 
dangerous  and  unexplored  region,  peopled  by  treacher- 
ous Indians,  unassisted  by  a  subordinate  officer  who 
could  share  the  responsibilities  of  so  hazardous  an  under- 
taking, Lieutenant  Pike  "literally  performed  the  duties 
of  astronomer,  surveyor,  commanding  officer,  clerk,  spy, 
guide  and  hunter." 

Leaving  St.  Louis,  August  9,  1805,  with  provisions  for 
four  months,  he  ascended  the  Mississippi  in  a  keel  boat, 
seventy-five  feet  in  length,  the  first  trip  of  its  kind  made 
by  any  citizen  of  the  United  States.  His  advance, 

8 


ARMY  9 

barring  accidents  and  delays  was  from  twenty-five  to 
thirty  miles  a  day;  his  greatest  embarrassments  arose 
from  the  numerous  channels  which  are  formed  by  the 
many  islands  in  the  river,  and  without  experienced  guides 
it  was  a  problem  to  choose  the  right  one. 

By  the  20th  of  August,  Lieutenant  Pike  had  reached 
the  Des  Moines  Rapids,  covering  eleven  miles  of  danger- 
ous and  successive  shoals  extending  from  shore  to  shore. 
The  Rock  River  Rapids  were  passed  a  week  later  and 
the  Dubuque  mines  by  the  first  of  September. 

Lieutenant  Pike's  Winter  quarters  were  established 
about  two  hundred  and  thirty-five  miles  above  the  Falls 
of  St.  Anthony,  where  his  boats  and  extra  baggage  were 
stored  under  a  suitable  guard.  The  rest  of  the  party 
continued  less  hampered  and  in  better  condition  to  meet 
the  advancing  season. 

On  the  22nd  of  December,  Lieutenant  Pike  makes 
entry  in  his  journal: 

"Never  did  I  undergo  more  fatigue  in  performing  the 
duties  of  hunter,  spy,  guide,  and  commanding  officer, 
sometimes  in  front,  sometimes  in  the  rear,  frequently 
in  advance  of  my  party  ten  or  fifteen  miles."  Four  days 
later  he  "broke  four  sleds,  broke  into  the  river  four  times, 
and  had  four  carrying  places," — advancing  three  miles. 

On  January  20  Lieutenant  Pike  reached  a  Brit- 
ish trading  establishment  at  Leech  Lake,  which  was 
then  supposed  to  be  the  source  of  the  great  river,  where 
his  footsore  and  weary  soldiers  were  met  by  a  kindly 
and  hospitable  welcome.  Here  he  addressed  a  letter  to 
M'Gelles,  the  manager  of  the  North  West  Company  of 
that  section,  in  which  he  stated  the  views  of  the  United 
States  government  and  the  conditions  under  which  trade 
with  the  Indians  might  be  properly  conducted  within  the 
acknowledged  boundaries  of  the  United  States.  He 


10  OUR  UNITED  STATES 

required  that  the  flag  of  our  government  and  no  other 
should  be  hoisted  within  the  same  and  these  conditions 
were  met  with  a  seemingly  friendly  spirit  on  the  part 
of  the  traders.  Lieutenant  Pike  also  held  counsel  with 
the  Indians  to  similar  purpose,  although  he  fully  real- 
ized that  the  sovereignty  of  the  United  States  could  not 
be  permanently  respected  without  established  military 
outposts,  in  a  section  of  the  country  where  traders  of 
a  foreign  nation  found  it  to  their  advantage  in  trading 
to  weaken  respect  for  the  United  States  authority. 

Upon  his  return  Lieutenant  Pike  recommended  to  his 
superiors  the  adoption  of  an  effectual  and  permanent 
guard. 

Having  accomplished  his  mission  with  dignity  and 
consummate  tact,  Lieutenant  Pike  soon  after  retraced  his 
steps  and  after  an  absence  of  nearly  nine  months 
returned  to  St.  Louis,  April  30,  1806. 

So  successfully  had  Lieutenant  Pike  performed  the 
duties  assigned  to  him  that  he  was  ordered  by  General 
Wilkinson  upon  a  second  expedition,  the  primary  object 
of  which  was  to  restore  certain  captives  of  the  Osage 
tribe,  recently  recovered  from  the  Pottawatomies  to  their 
homes  on  the  Grand  Osage.  Lieutenant  Pike  was  also 
instructed  to  establish  permanent  peace  between  the 
Osage  and  Kansas  Indians,  and  a  third  object  was, 
according  to  General  Wilkinson's  orders,  "to  effect  an 
interview  and  establish  a  good  understanding  with  the 
Yanctons,  Tetans,  or  Camanches,"  in  the  locality  of  the 
Arkansas  and  Red  Rivers,  "approximated  to  the  settle- 
ments of  New  Mexico,"  where  he  was  instructed  "to 
move  with  great  circumspection,  to  keep  clear  of  any 
hunting  or  reconnoitering  parties  from  that  province, 
and  to  prevent  alarm  or  offence." 

A  lieutenant,  one  sergeant,  two  corporals,  sixteen  pri- 


ARMY  11 

vates,  and  an  interpreter  composed  the  military  escort. 
Dr.  Robinson,  a  professional  man  of  great  ability,  volun- 
teered his  services,  and  with  fifty-one  Osage  and  Pawnee 
Indians,  this  party  embarked  at  St.  Louis,  July  15,  1806, 
and  proceeded  up  the  Missouri  in  two  large  boats. 
Lieutenant  Pike  travelled  through  what  is  now  Kansas 
and  Colorado.  This  approach  to  the  great  mountain 
that  bears  his  name  and  stands  as  a  monument  to  his 
valor  and  forceful  personality  is  best  told  by  extracts 
from  his  field  journal : 

"Saturday,  November  15  (1806).— Marched  early. 
Passed  two  deep  creeks  and  many  high  points  of  rocks; 
also  large  herds  of  buffaloes.  At  two  o'clock  in  the 
afternoon,  I  thought  I  could  distinguish  a  mountain  to 
our  right,  which  appeared  like  a  small  blue  cloud ;  viewed 
it  with  the  spy  glass,  and  was  still  more  confirmed  in 
my  conjecture,  yet  only  communicated  it  to  Dr.  Robin- 
son, who  was  in  front  with  me,  but  in  half  an  hour  it 
appeared  in  full  view  before  us.  When  our  small  party 
arrived  on  the  hill  they  with  one  accord  gave  three  cheers 
to  the  Mexican  mountains.  Their  appearance  can  easily 
be  imagined  by  those  who  have  crossed  the  Alleghany, 
but  their  sides  were  white  as  if  covered  with  snow  or 
white  stone.  These  proved  to  be  a  spur  of  the  grand 
western  chain  of  mountains  which  divide  the  waters  of 
the  Pacific  from  those  of  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  and  divide 
the  waters  which  empty  into  the  bay  of  the  Holy  Spirit 
from  those  of  the  Mississippi,  as  the  Alleghany  do  those 
that  discharge  themselves  into  the  latter  river  and  the 
Atlantic.  They  appeared  to  present  a  boundary  between 
the  province  of  Louisiana  and  North  Mexico,  and  would 
be  a  fork  on  the  south  side  S.  25°  W.,  and,  as  the  Span- 
ish troops  appeared  to  have  borne  up  it,  we  encamped 
on  its  banks,  about  one  mile  from  its  confluence,  that  we 


12  OUR  UNITED  STATES 

might  make  further  discoveries  on  the  morrow.  Dis- 
tance advanced  twenty-four  miles. 

"Saturday,  November  22. — March  early,  and  with 
rather  more  caution  than  usual.  After  having  proceeded 
about  five  miles  on  the  prairie,  and  as  those  in  front  were 
descending  into  the  bottom,  Baroney  cried  out,  'Voila  un 
sauvage/  when  we  observed  a  number  of  Indians  run- 
ning from  the  woods  towards  us.  We  advanced  towards 
them,  and,  on  turning  my  head  to  the  left,  I  observed 
several  running  on  the  hill,  as  it  were  to  surround  us, 
one  of  them  bearing  a  stand  of  colors.  This  caused  a 
momentary  halt,  but  perceiving  those  in  front  reaching 
out  their  hands,  and  without  arms,  we  again  advanced. 
They  met  us  with  open  arms,  crowding  around  to  touch 
and  embrace  us.  They  appeared  so  anxious  that  I  dis- 
mounted from  my  horse,  and  in  a  moment  a  fellow  had 
mounted  him  and  driven  off.  I  then  observed  the  Doctor 
and  Barony  in  the  same  predicament.  The  Indians  were 
embracing  the  soldiers.  After  some  time  tranquillity  was 
so  far  restored,  they  having  returned  our  horses  all  safe, 
as  to  enable  us  to  learn  they  were  a  war  party  from  the 
Grand  Pawnees,  who  had  been  in  search  of  the  Tetans, 
but,  not  finding  them,  were  now  on  their  return.  An 
unsuccessful  war  party  on  their  way  home  are  always 
ready  to  embrace  an  opportunity  of  gratifying  their 
disappointed  vengeance  on  the  first  persons  they 
meet. 

"We  made  for  the  woods  and  unloaded  our  horses, 
when  the  two  leaders  endeavored  to  arrange  the  party; 
it  was  with  great  difficulty  they  got  them  tranquil  and 
not  until  there  had  been  a  bow  or  two  bent  on  the  occa- 
sion. When  in  some  order,  we  found  them  to  be  sixty 
warriors,  half  with  fire  arms,  and  half  with  bows,  arrows 
and  lances.  Our  party  was  in  all,  sixteen.  In  a  short 


ARMY  13 

time  they  were  arranged  in  a  ring,  and  I  took  my  seat 
between  the  two  leaders;  our  colors  were  placed  oppo- 
site each  other,  the  utensils  for  smoking,  etc.,  being  pre- 
pared on  a  small  seat  before  us.  Thus  far  all  was  well. 
I  then  ordered  half  a  carrot  of  tobacco,  one  dozen  knives, 
sixty  fire  steels,  and  sixty  flints  to  be  presented  to  them. 
They  demanded  corn,  ammunition,  blankets,  kettles,  etc., 
all  of  which  they  were  refused,  notwithstanding  the 
pressing  instances  of  my  interpreter  to  accede  to  some 
points.  The  pipes  yet  lay  unmoved,  as  if  they  were 
undetermined  whether  to  treat  us  as  friends  or  as  ene- 
mies, but  after  some  time  we  were  presented  with  a 
kettle  of  water,  drank,  smoked,  and  ate  together., 

"Monday,  November  24. — After  giving  the  necessary 
orders  for  the  government  of  my  men,  during  my 
absence,  in  case  of  our  not  returning,  we  marched  at 
one  o'clock  with  an  idea  of  arriving  at  the  foot  of  the 
mountain,  but  found  ourselves  obliged  to  take  up  our 
lodging  this  night  under  a  single  cedar,  which  we  found 
in  the  prairie,  without  water,  and  extremely  cold.  Our 
party,  beside  myself,  consisted  of  Dr.  Robinson  and  Pri- 
vates Miller  and  Brown.  Distance  advanced  twelve 
miles. 

"Wednesday,  November  26. — Expecting  to  return  to 
our  camp  that  evening,  we  left  all  our  blankets  and  pro- 
visions at  the  foot  of  the  mountain.  Killed  a  deer  of  a 
new  species,  and  hung  his  skin  on  a  tree  with  some  meat. 
We  commenced  ascending;  found  the  way  very  difficult, 
being  obliged  to  climb  up  rocks  sometimes  almost  perpen- 
dicular, and  after  marching  all  day  we  encamped  in  a 
cave  without  blankets,  victuals,  or  water.  We  had  a  fine 
clear  sky,  whilst  it  was  snowing  at  the  bottom.  On  the 
side  of  the  mountain  (Cheyenne  Mountain)  we  found 
only  yellow  and  pitch  pine ;  some  distance  up  we  saw 


14  OUR  UNITED  STATES 

buffalo  and  higher  still,  the  new   species  of   deer  and 
pheasants. 

"Thursday,  November  27. — Arose  hungry,  thirsty,  and 
extremely  sore  from  the  unevenness  of  the  rocks  on 
which  we  had  lain  all  night,  but  we  were  amply  com- 
pensated for  our  toil  by  the  sublimity  of  the  prospects 
below.  The  unbounded  prairie  was  overhung  with 
clouds,  which  appeared  like  the  ocean  in  a  storm,  were 
piled  wave  on  wave,  and  foaming,  while  the  sky  over 
our  heads  was  perfectly  clear.  Commenced  our  march 
up  the  mountain,  and  in  about  one  hour  arrived  at  the 
summit  of  this  chain;  here  we  found  the  snow  middle 
deep,  and  discovered  no  sign  of  beast  or  bird  inhabiting 
this  region.  The  thermometer,  which  stood  at  9°  above  0 
at  the  foot  of  the  mountain,  here  fell  to  4°  below.  The 
summit  of  the  Grand  Peak,  which  was  entirely  bare  of 
vegetation,  and  covered  with  snow,  now  appeared  at  the 
distance  of  fifteen  or  sixteen  miles  from  us,  and  as  high 
again  as  that  we  had  ascended ;  it  would  have  taken  a 
whole  day's  march  to  have  arrived  at  its  base,  when,  I  be- 
lieve, no  human  being  could  have  ascended  to  its  summit. 
This,  with  the  condition  of  my  soldiers,  who  had  only 
light  overalls  on,  and  no  stockings,  and  were  every 
way  ill-provided  to  endure  the  inclemency  of  this  region, 
and  bad  prospect  of  killing  anything  to  subsist  on,  with 
the  further  detention  of  two  or  three  days  which  it  must 
occasion,  determined  us  to  return.  The  clouds  from  be- 
low had  now  ascended  the  mountain,  and  entirely  envel- 
oped the  summit  on  which  rest  eternal  snows.  We 
descended  by  a  long  deep  ravine  with  much  less  difficulty 
than  we  had  contemplated.  Found  all  our  baggage  safe, 
but  the  provision  all  destroyed.  It  began  to  snow,  and 
we  sought  shelter  under  the  side  of  a  projecting  rock, 
where  we  all  four  made  a  meal  on  one  partridge  and  a 


ARMY  15 

pair  of  deer's  ribs,  which  the  ravens  had  left  us,  being 
the  first  food  we  had  eaten  for  forty-eight  hours. 

"Friday,  November  28. — Marched  at  nine  o'clock. 
Kept  straight  down  the  creek  to  avoid  the  hills.  At  half 
past  one  o'clock  shot  two  buffaloes,  when  we  made  the 
first  full  meal  we  had  eaten  for  three  days.  Encamped 
in  a  valley  under  a  shelving  rock.  The  land  here  was 
very  rich,  and  covered  with  old  Tetan  camps. 

"Saturday,  November  29. — Marched  after  a  short 
repast,  and  arrived  at  our  camp  before  night.  Found 
all  well. 

"Sunday,  November  30. — We  commenced  our  march 
at  eleven  o'clock,  it  snowing  very  fast,  but  my  impatience 
to  be  moving  would  not  permit  me  to  lie  still  at  our 
present  camp.  .  .  . 

"Monday,  December  1. — The  storm  still  continuing 
with  violence,  we  remained  encamped.  The  snow  by 
night  was  one  foot  deep,  our  horses  being  obliged  to 
scrape  it  away  to  obtain  their  miserable  pittance.  To  in- 
crease their  misfortunes,  the  poor  animals  were  attacked 
by  magpies,  which,  attracted  by  the  scent  of  their  sore 
backs,  alighted  on  them,  and  in  defiance  of  the  whinny- 
ing and  kicking,  picked  many  places  quite  raw;  the  diffi- 
culty of  procuring  food  rendered  these  birds  so  bold 
as  to  light  on  our  men's  arms  and  eat  meat  out  of  their 
hands.  One  of  our  hunters  was  out,  but  killed  nothing." 

The  advance  of  the  little  party  was  beset  by  increasing 
embarrassments,  with  the  advance  of  winter,  food  and 
game  became  scarce,  and  the  condition  of  animals  and 
men  more  and  more  deplorable. 

Lieutenant  Pike  divided  his  party,  placing  himself  and 
the  strongest  in  the  lead,  in  the  hope  that  by  caching 
meat  as  it  was  secured,  the  weaker  ones  could  come  up 
more  slowly  and  still  find  sustenance. 


16  OUR  UNITED  STATES 

Several  days  were  consumed  in  finishing  this  work 
when  Dr.  Robinson,  in  pursuance  of  a  previously 
arranged  scheme,  set  out  alone  for  Santa  Fe.  Thi 
extraordinary  journey,  undertaken  in  such  an  unpro 
tected  manner,  and  without  any  distinct  idea  of  the  bear 
ing  and  distance  of  that  place  from  Lieutenant  Pike' 
present  encampment,  showed  a  spirit  of  enterprise  am 
hardihood,  that  rendered  Dr.  Robinson  a  worthy  coadju 
tor  of  his  principal  in  this  perilous  expedition.  I 
appears,  from  a  note  of  explanation  by  Lieutenant  Pik< 
in  his  journal,  that  a  claim  on  some  merchant  of  Sant; 
Fe  had  been  put  into  his  hands  to  collect,  should  a  fitting 
opportunity  for  doing  so  occur.  It  was  transferred  t< 
Dr.  Robinson,  who  was  to  make  it  a  pretext  for  a  visi 
to  the  place,  and  a  cover  for  observing  its  trade  an< 
resources  for  the  benefit  of  his  countrymen. 

While  Lieutenant  Pike  was  thus  engaged,  and  when  01 
a  short  hunting  range,  with  only  one  man  in  company 
he  was  unexpectedly  encountered  by  two  horsemen,  witl 
whom,  as  it  was  too  late  to  avoid  them,  he,  after  mucl 
shyness  on  their  part,  opened  a  parley.  They  proved  t< 
be  a  Spanish  dragoon  and  a  civilized  Indian,  from  Sant; 
Fe,  who  informed  him  that  Dr.  Robinson  had  reachec 
that  place  in  safety,  and  had  been  kindly  treated  by  th< 
Governor  there.  They  showed  a  determination  to  ascer 
tain  where  his  camp  was,  and  being  under  an  impressioi 
it  was  on  the  Red  River,  and,  of  course,  within  thi 
acknowledged  boundaries  of  the  United  States,  h< 
thought  it  best  to  conduct  them  to  it  without  hesitation 

Passing  through  San  Antonio,  crossing  the  Brazos  anc 
the  Trinity,  and  continuing  his  route  by  way  of  Nacog 
doches,  he  reached  Natchitoches  on  the  first  of  July 
1807,  having  been  absent  on  his  tour  nearly  one  year 

Long's  expedition  in  the  years   1819-20  was  anothe: 


ARMY  17 

of  the  early  explorations  redounding  to  the  credit  of  the 
Army.  This  young  officer  with  his  company  penetrated 
to  the  region  of  the  Colorado,  and  his  name  is  per- 
petuated to  fame  in  the  mountain  he  discovered. 

In  the  year  1832  Captain  Bonneville,  U.  S.  A.,  obtained 
an  indefinite  leave  of  absence  for  the  purpose  of  study- 
ing the  Indian  in  his  native  haunts.  In  company  with 
one  hundred  and  ten  men  he  journeyed  to  the  remote 
region  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  ostensibly  as  a  fur  trader 
in  search  of  a  fortune.  There  he  lived  among  the  Nez 
Perces,  the  Flatheads  and  other  native  tribes  five  years. 

Upon  his  return  east  the  manifest  necessity  of  estab- 
lishing military  posts  and  a  mounted  force  to  protect 
traders  in  the  very  heart  of  the  western  "wilderness" 
was  already  occupying  the  energies  of  Congress.  These 
early  explorations  of  adventurous  Army  officers  blazed 
the  trail  and  opened  the  flood  gate  for  the  oncoming 
tide  of  civilization. 


CHAPTER  III 
FREMONT  AND  His  ADVENTURES 

FREMONT'S  career  began  in  1833,  when  he  obtained  a 
commission  as  professor  of  mathematics  in  the  Navy  and 
his  first  assignment  was  to  the  Frigate  Independence. 

An  Act  of  Congress  was  passed  April  30,  1824,  author- 
izing the  President  to  employ  two  or  more  skilful  civil 
engineers  and  such  officers  of  the  corps  of  army  engineers 
as  he  might  think  proper,  for  necessary  survey  plans  and 
estimates  of  the  routes  of  such  roads  and  canals  as  he 
might  deem  of  material  importance  in  a  commercial  or 
military  point  of  view,  for  the  transporting  of  the  public 
mail. 

Resigning  his  commission  in  the  navy,  Fremont  was 
appointed  to  this  special  work.  July  7,  1838,  he  was  com- 
missioned second  lieutenant  of  the  topographical  engi- 
neers in  the  Army  of  the  United  States.  The  explora- 
tion and  survey  of  the  vast  region  north  of  the  Missouri 
and  west  of  the  Mississippi  was  deemed  advisable  by 
the  Administration  and  young  Fremont  was  detailed  to 
accompany  Mr.  Nicholet,  a  distinguished  astronomer 
and  member  of  the  French  Academy.  The  years  1838 
and  1839  were  spent  in  the  field,  and  the  whole  country 
was  explored  up  to  the  British  line.  In  the  course  of 
these  surveys  there  were  seventy  thousand  meteorologi- 
cal observations  and  the  topography  was  minutely  de- 
termined by  the  calculations  at  innumerable  points.  The 

18 


ARMY  19 

map  thus  constructed  has  been  the  source  from  which 
all  subsequent  ones  relating  to  that  region  have  been 
derived. 

In  the  Spring  of  1841,  Lieutenant  Fremont  went  in 
command  of  a  small  party  to  survey  the  Des  Moines 
River.  This  was  but  the  beginning  of  his  extraordinary 
career  and  the  expeditions  which  followed  are  thrilling 
narratives  of  the  explorer's  adventures. 

The  first  expedition  of  Lieutenant  Fremont,  in  com- 
mand of  an  exploring  party  on  a  large  scale,  occupied 
the  Summer  of  1842,  and  embraced  the  country  between 
the  Missouri  River  and  the  Rocky  Mountains,  along  the 
line  of  the  Kansas  and  the  Great  Platte,  or  Nebraska 
River. 

Describing  the  first  meeting  with  the  great  herds  of 
western  buffalo  Fremont  says: 

"A  few  miles  brought  us  into  the  midst  of  the  buffalo, 
swarming  in  immense  numbers  over  the  plains,  where 
they  had  left  scarcely  a  blade  of  grass  standing.  .  .  . 
In  the  sight  of  such  a  mass  of  life,  the  traveller  feels  a 
strange  emotion  of  grandeur.  We  had  heard  from  a 
distance  a  dull  and  confused  murmuring,  and,  when  we 
came  in  view  of  their  dark  masses,  there  was  not  one 
among  us  who  did  not  feel  his  heart  beat  quicker.  It 
was  the  early  part  of  the  day,  when  the  herds  are  feed- 
ing, and  everywhere  they  were  in  motion.  Here  and 
there  a  huge  old  bull  was  rolling  in  the  grass,  and  clouds 
of  dust  rose  in  the  air  from  various  parts  of  the  bands, 
each  the  scene  of  some  obstinate  fight.  Indians  and  buf- 
falo made  the  poetry  and  life  of  the  prairie,  and  our 
camp  was  full  of  their  exhilaration.  In  place  of  the 
quiet  monotony  of  the  march,  relieved  only  by  the  crack- 
ing of  the  whip,  and  an  'avance  done!  enfant  de  grace!' 
shouts  and  songs  resounded  from  every  part  of  the  line 


20  OUR  UNITED  STATES 

and  our  evening  camp  was  always  the  commencement  of 
a  feast,  which  terminated  only  with  our  departure  on  the 
following  morning.  At  any  time  of  the  night  might  be 
seen  pieces  of  the  most  delicate  and  choicest  meat,  roast- 
ing en  appolas,  on  sticks  around  the  fire,  and  the  guard 
were  never  without  company.  .  .  .  Astronomical  obser- 
vations placed  us  in  longitude  100°  05'  47",  latitude  40° 
49'  55"." 

Ascending  the  South  Fork,  they  reached  St.  Vrain's 
Fort,  at  the  foot  of  the  mountains  about  seventeen  miles 
from  Long's  Peak,  and  thence  to  Fort  Laramie.  Here 
Fremont  learned  that  some  eight  hundred  Indian  lodges 
were  contemplating  hostilities  upon  the  whites.  He  was 
warned  by  the  Indians  not  to  proceed  and  his  men, 
including  the  daring  Kit  Carson,  advised  him  of  the  im- 
prudence of  continuing  the  journey  while  the  Indians 
were  on  the  war  path.  Nevertheless,  Fremont  deter- 
mined to  do  so  at  all  hazards,  and  addressed  the  Indian 
chiefs  who  had  come  to  warn  him  in  the  following 
words : 

"We  do  not  believe  what  you  have  said,  and  will  not 
listen  to  you.  Whatever  a  chief  among  us  tells  his  sol- 
diers to  do,  is  done.  We  are  the  soldiers  of  the  great 
chief,  your  father.  He  has  told  us  to  come  here  and  see 
this  country,  and  all  the  Indians,  his  children.  Why 
should  we  not  go?  ...  We  came  among  you  peaceably, 
holding  out  our  hands.  .  .  .  We  have  thrown  away  our 
bodies,  and  will  not  turn  back.  We  are  few,  and  you 
are  many,  and  may  kill  us  all.  ...  Do  you  think  that 
our  great  chief  will  let  his  soldiers  die  and  forget  to 
cover  their  graves?  ...  I  have  pulled  down  my  white 
houses,  and  my  people  are  ready;  when  the  sun  is  ten 
paces  higher,  we  shall  be  on  the  march.  If  you  have 
anything  to  tell  us,  you  will  say  it  soon." 


ARMY  21 

At  the  edge  of  the  foot-hills  of  the  snow-peaked 
Rockies,  Fremont  concealed  everything  that  would  not 
be  needed  on  the  mountain  journey.  The  party  now 
followed  the  Platte  River,  to  South  Pass,  which  he 
crossed  and  reached  the  head  waters  of  the  Colorado, 
which  empties  into  the  Pacific  Ocean. 

The  ascent  of  Fremont  Peak,  to  a  height  of  13,570 
feet,  where  the  Stars  and  Stripes  were  unfurled,  was 
accomplished  under  no  little  risk  and  difficulty.  From 
this  point  of  vantage  could  be  seen  to  the  north  the  snow- 
clad  mountains  that  contain  the  sources  of  the  Columbia 
and  Missouri  Rivers — to  the  west  the  countless  lakes  and 
streams  that  feed  the  Colorado  and  the  Gulf  of  California, 
to  the  east  the  springs  of  the  Yellowstone  branch  of 
the  Missouri,  on  the  south  the  waters  of  the  Platte,  and 
beyond  the  mountain  reservoirs  of  the  Arkansas. 

He  now  undertook  the  survey  of  the  Platte,  concern- 
ing which  strange  stories  had  been  told  him  by  the  In- 
dians of  the  cataracts,  rocks,  and  whirlpools,  through 
which  no  boat  could  live.  Dividing  his  men,  with  in- 
structions to  the  main  body  to  cross  country  and  meet 
him  at  Goat  Island,  accompanied  by  Mr.  Preuss  and  five 
of  his  best  men,  he  descended  the  river. 

Returning  by  the  Platte  and  Missouri  Rivers  to  St. 
Louis,  he  reported  to  the  Government  in  Washington  in 
the  Fall  of  that  year. 

The  following  year,  1843,  Fremont  was  instructed  to 
cross  the  Rocky  Mountains  to  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia, 
to  locate  the  lost  road  to  the  Pacific.  In  this  great 
journey  of  some  seventeen  hundred  miles  across  the 
plains  and  over  the  mountain,  he  reached  Great  Salt 
Lake,  of  which  comparatively  little  was  known  at  this 
period. 

"It  was  one  of  the  great  points  of  the  exploration,"  he 


22  OUR  UNITED  STATES 

writes.  "It  was  certainly  a  magnificent  object,  and  to 
travellers  long  shut  up  among  mountain  ranges  a  sudden 
view  over  the  expanse  of  waters  had  in  it  something 
sublime." 

Pursuing  his  journey  north  and  west  through  moun- 
tains and  deserts  he  reached  Fort  Vancouver,  November 
4.  Fremont  had  successfully  completed  the  work 
assigned  to  him  by  the  government,  but  he  was  ambitious 
to  undertake  exploration  of  that  little  known  country 
between  Salt  Lake  and  California,  now  known  as  the 
Great  Basin.  'Six  days  after  his  arrival  at  Vancouver 
he  set  out  with  twenty-five  persons  on  this  extraordinary 
undertaking.  The  season  of  the  year  was  particularly 
unpropitious  and  the  perils  of  this  journey  across  the 
Sierra  Nevadas  was  deemed  by  the  native  Indians  pure 
madness. 

Days  followed  of  excessive  toil  over  rough  and  frozen 
country  without  proper  provisions  and  in  the  intense 
cold. 

On  February  2,  Fremont  writes: 

"It  had  ceased  snowing,  and  the  lower  air  was  clear 
and  frosty.  Six  or  seven  thousand  feet  above,  the  peaks 
of  the  Sierra  now  and  then  appeared  among  the  rolling 
clouds." 

Four  days  later  he  was  standing  on  their  summit. 
"Between  us,  then,  and  this  coast  range  was  the  valley 
of  the  Sacramento,  and  no  one  not  with  us  for  the  last 
few  months  could  realize  the  delight  with  which  we  at 
last  looked  down  upon  it.  We  were  at  a  great  height 
above  the  valley  and  between  us  and  these  plains 
extended  miles  of  snowy  fields  and  broken  ridges  of 
pine-covered  mountains.  .  .  .  On  February  11  high  wind 
and  snow  nearly  covered  our  trail  ...  by  February  16 
we  succeeded  in  getting  our  animals  safely  to  the  first 


ARMY  23 

grassy  hills  ...  on  the  19th  the  people  were  occupied 
in  making  a  road  and  bringing  up  the  baggage,  and  on 
the  afternoon  of  the  next  day,  February  20,  1844,  we 
encamped,  with  the  animals  and  all  the  materials  of  the 
camp,  on  the  summit  of  the  pass  in  the  dividing  ridge, 
one  thousand  miles  by  our  travelled  road  from  the  Dallas 
of  the  Columbia  .  .  .  9,338  feet  above  the  sea.  ...  We 
now  considered  ourselves  victorious  over  the  mountain, 
having  only  the  descent  before  us,  and  the  valley  under 
our  eyes.  .  .  . 

"February  23,"  he  continues,  "was  our  most  difficult 
day — going  ahead  with  Carson  to  reconnoitre  the  road, 
we  reached  a  river  .  .  .  Carson  sprang  over,  but  the 
smooth  sole  of  my  moccasin  glanced  from  the  icy  rock, 
and  threw  me  into  the  river.  Carson,  thinking  me  hurt, 
jumped  in  after  me,  and  we  both  had  an  icy  bath.  Fol- 
lowing the  river,  which  pursued  a  direct  westerly  course 
through  a  narrow  valley.  .  .  .  On  a  bench  of  the  hill 
nearby  was  a  field  of  green  grass  six  inches  high  into 
which  the  animals  were  driven  and  fed  with  great 
delight.  Cedars  abounded,  and  we  measured  one  28j^ 
feet  in  circumference. 

"February  26  we  continued  to  follow  the  stream,  the 
mountains  on  either  side  increasing  in  height  as  we 
descended,  and  shutting  up  the  river  narrowly  between 
precipices,  along  which  we  ha'd  a  great  difficulty  to  get 
our  horses.  We  had  with  us  a  large  kettle,  and  a  mule 
being  killed  here,  his  head  was  boiled  in  it  for  several 
hours  and  made  a  pleasant  soup  for  famished  people. 
.  .  .  My  favorite  horse,  Provean,  had  become  very  weak 
and  was  scarcely  able  to  bring  himself  to  the  top. 
Travelling  here  was  good,  except  in  crossing  the  ravines, 
which  were  narrow,  steep  and  frequent.  .  .  .  Near  night- 
fall we  descended  into  the  steep  ravine  of  a  handsome 


24  OUR  UNITED  STATES 

creek  thirty  feet  wide,  .  .  .  when  a  shout  was  heard 
from  Carson.  .  .  .  'Life  yet/  he  said,  'yet  life:  I  have 
found  a  hillside  sprinkled  with  grass  enough  for  the 
night.'  " 

Mr.  Preuss  became  separated  from  the  party  and  was 
lost  several  days.  Having  nothing  with  him  but  his 
pocket  knife,  he  subsisted  upon  the  roots  of  wild  onions 
and  frogs,  and,  discovering  a  nest  of  ants,  he  ate  these 
in  his  struggle  to  ward  off  death  from  starvation.  Fall- 
ing in  with  some  Indians,  he  was  supplied  with  roasted 
acorns  and  finally  found  his  way  back  to  camp.  Other 
members  of  the  party  had  lost  their  reason  from  expo- 
sure and  lack  of  sufficient  food.  At  the  junction  of  the 
Sacramento  they  came  upon  a  village  of  Indians  and, 
writes  Fremont : 

"We  had  the  delight  of  hearing  one  who  could  speak 
Spanish.  Among  them  was  one  who  said  he  was  one  of 
Captain  Sutter's  herdsmen.  He  led  us  down  the  valley 
till  we  were  met  by  Captain  Sutter  himself,  who  gave 
us  a  most  frank  and  cordial  welcome.  .  .  .  Out  of  sixty- 
seven  horses  and  mules,  with  which  we  commenced  cross- 
ing the  Sierra,  only  thirty-three  reached  the  valley  of  the 
Sacramento." 

After  a  stay  of  two  weeks,  during  which  supplies  were 
collected  and  preparations  made  for  the  return  journey, 
Fremont  and  his  men  left  March  24  and  started  south 
along  the  valley  of  the  San  Joaquin  River,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  exploring  the  desert  and  mountain  region  between 
southern  California  and  the  Great  Salt  Lake. 

"Our  cavalcade  made  a  strange  and  grotesque  appear- 
ance, and  it  was  impossible  to  avoid  reflections  upon  our 
position  and  composition  in  this  remote  solitude.  With- 
in two  degrees  of  the  Pacific  Ocean,  already  far  south 
of  the  latitude  of  Monterey,  and  still  forced  on  south  by 


ARMY  25 

a  desert  on  one  hand,  and  a  mountain  range  on  the  other, 
guided  by  a  civilized  Indian,  attended  by  two  wild  ones 
from  the  Sierra,  a  Chinook  from  Columbia,  and  our  own 
mixture  of  American,  French,  German,  all  armed,  four 
or  five  languages  heard  at  once,  above  a  hundred  horses 
and  mules,  half  wild,  American,  Spanish,  and  Indian 
dresses,  and  equipments  intermingled, — such  was  our 
composition.  Our  march  was  a  sort  of  procession — 
scouts  ahead  and  on  the  flanks,  a  front  and  rear  division, 
the  pack  animals,  baggage,  and  horned  cattle  in  the  cen- 
tre and  the  whole  stretching  a  quarter  of  a  mile  along 
our  dreary  path." 

"In  arriving  at  the  Utah  Lake,"  he  writes,  "we  had 
completed  an  immense  circuit  of  twelve  degrees  diameter 
north  and  south,  and  ten  degrees  east  and  west,  and 
found  ourselves  in  May,  1844,  on  the  same  sheet  of 
water  we  had  left  in  September,  1843.  .  .  .  The  circuit 
which  we  had  made,  and  which  had  cost  us  eight  months 
of  time,  and  3,500  miles  of  travelling,  had  given  us  a 
view  of  Oregon  and  North  California  from  the  Rocky 
Mountains  to  the  Pacific  Ocean,  and  of  the  two  principal 
streams  which  form  bays  or  harbors  on  the  coast  of  that 
sea.  ...  In  our  eight  months'  circuit  we  were  never 
out  of  sight  of  snow  and  the  Sierra  Nevada,  where  we 
crossed  it,  was  nearly  2,000  feet  higher  than  the  South 
Pass  in  the  Rocky  Mountains." 

On  the  6th  of  August  the  travellers  reached  St.  Louis, 
by  way  of  Arkansas,  Kansas  and  Missouri. 

On  the  29th  of  January,  1845,  President  Tyler,  with 
the  advice  and  consent  of  the  Senate  of  the  United  States, 
conferred  upon  Lieutenant  Fremont,  a  Brevet  commis- 
sion of  Captain  in  the  corps  of  Topographical  Engineers. 
He  was  brevetted  to  a  First  Lieutenancy  and  a  Captaincy, 
at  the  same  time.  For  this  distinguished  compliment  he 


26  OUR  UNITED  STATES 

was  indebted,  in  part,  to  the  instrumentality  of  the  com- 
manding General  of  the  Army. 

In  the  Fall  of  that  year  he  started  on  his  third  expedi- 
tion. This  was  his  last  under  the  authority  of  the  Gov- 
ernment. The  two  next  expeditions  were  at  his  own 
cost,  and  unconnected  altogether  with  the  Government. 
He  went  out  in  the  third  expedition,  by  the  northern  head 
waters  of  the  Arkansas,  then  the  boundary  line  of  the 
country,  to  the  south  side  of  the  Great  Salt  Lake,  and 
thence  directly  across  the  central  basin,  towards  Cali- 
fornia, in  a  route  of  which  he  was  the  first  explorer. 
Upon  reaching  the  neighborhood  of  the  Sierra  Nevada, 
he  concluded  that,  in  the  worn  and  weakened  condition 
of  his  men  and  animals,  they  would  not  be  able  to  sur- 
mount the  barrier  at  that  point.  ...  He  therefore 
divided  his  party  .  .  .  got  across  the  mountains  with  his 
light  party,  proceeded  to  Sutter's,  purchased  fifty  cattle 
and  drove  them  down  the  western  side  of  the  Sierra  to 
meet  the  main  body  of  his  people.  .  .  .  Unfortunately 
they  mistook  the  pass.  .  .  .  Fremont  remained  waiting 
and  roaming  for  them,  in  the  wild  and  mountainous  coun- 
try, having  frequent  hard  fights  with  the  savage  tribes  that 
infested  these,  until  his  cattle  were  wasted  by  exhaustion 
and  destroyed  by  injuries  among  the  sharp  rocks. 
Finally,  he  abandoned  the  search,  and  going  down  to 
the  California  settlements,  learned  that  his  company,  after 
many  sufferings,  had  come  into  the  country  by  a  different 
route  from  that  directed  by  him,  quite  remote  from  where 
he  had  expected  to  meet  them.  .  .  .  Orders  were  sent  to 
Walker  to  go  with  his  party  to  San  Jose,  and  there  remain 
until  Fremont  should  join  them.  Wishing  to  avoid  all 
occasion  of  ill-will,  or  suspicion,  on  the  part  of  the  Mexi- 
can authorities  in  California,  he  went  alone  to  Monterey, 
and  made  himself  known  to  Mr.  Larkin,  the  consul  of 


ARMY  27 

the  United  States  in  that  city,  and  accompanied  by  him, 
waited  upon  Alvarado,  the  Alcalde,  and  Manuel  Castro, 
the  commanding  general,  who  constituted  the  leading 
authorities  of  the  country.  He  communicated  his  object 
in  coming  to  California,  stating  that  his  sole  purpose  was 
a  scientific  exploration  of  the  continent  with  a  view  of 
ascertaining  the  best  mode  of  establishing  a  commercial 
intercourse  between  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  regions.  He 
requested  to  winter  in  the  country,  recruit  his  company, 
and  continue  his  explorations.  His  request  was  granted. 
He  then  repaired  to  his  party  at  San  Jose,  where  they 
remained  several  weeks.  .  .  .  On  the  3rd  of  March, 
when  within  about  twenty-five  miles  of  Monterey,  he 
was  met  by  an  officer  who  had  a  detachment  of  eight 
dragoons  in  his  rear  to  enforce  his  message,  ordering 
him  without  any  explanation  peremptorily  out  of  the  coun- 
try. .  .  .  Captain  Fremont  felt  no  disposition  to  pay  a 
hurried  obedience  to  the  order.  He  marched,  with  his 
party,  directly  to  a  lofty  hill,  called  Hawks  Peak,  pro- 
ceeded to  fortify  his  position,  and  erected  a  staff  on  its 
highest  point,  forty  feet  in  length,  and  unfurled  from  it 
the  flag  of  his  country.  His  own  spirit  pervaded  his 
whole  party.  On  the  9th,  Consul  Larkin  succeeded  in 
effecting  a  communication  with  Fremont,  informing  him 
of  the  preparations  going  on  to  attack  him.  .  .  .  After 
several  days,  as  Castro  ventured  upon  no  attack,  he  con- 
cluded to  move  from  his  position  at  Hawks  Peak.  .  .  . 
He  was  determined  to  originate  no  hostile  movement, 
but  confine  himself  wholly  to  the  resistance  of  violence. 
.  .  .  He  therefore  moved  down  into  the  San  Joaquin 
Valley,  and  by  moderate  and  deliberate  marches  turned 
up  through  North  California  towards  Oregon  and  the 
Columbia  River. 

Colonel  Benton,  in  a  speech  in  the  Senate  characterized 


28  OUR  UNITED  STATES 

the  course  of  Fremont  in  well-deserved  language: — 
"Such  was  the  reason  for  raising  the  flag.  It  was 
raised  at  the  approach  of  danger,  it  was  taken  down  when 
danger  disappeared.  It  was  well  and  nobly  done,  and 
worthy  of  our  admiration.  Sixty  of  our  countrymen, 
three  thousand  miles  from  home,  in  sight  of  the  Pacific 
Ocean,  appealing  to  the  flag  of  their  country,  unfurling 
it  on  the  mountain  top,  and  determined  to  die  under  it, 
before  they  would  submit  to  unjust  aggression." 

Mr.  Buchanan,  Secretary  of  State,  had  sent  Mr. 
Gillespie  with  a  small  party  to  overtake  Fremont  and  in- 
form him  of  the  strained  relations  between  the  United 
States  and  Mexico.  After  a  most  hazardous  journey  in 
which  he  nearly  lost  his  life  at  the  hands  of  the  Indians, 
Gillespie  reached  Fremont  and  communicated  the  in- 
formation. 

"A  rupture  between  the  United  States  and  Mexico  be- 
ing not  improbable,  it  was  the  wish  of  the  Government 
that  Fremont  should  keep  himself  in  a  favorable  position 
to  watch  the  state  of  things  in  California,  conciliate  the 
feelings  of  its  people,  encourage  a  friendship  with  the 
United  States,  and  •  do  what  he  could  to  prevent  that 
country  falling  into  the  hands  of  Great  Britain.  In 
obedience  to  this  suggestion,  he  began  to  retrace  his  steps 
into  California.  .  .  .  When  Captain  Fremont  came  into 
North  California,  he  found  the  whole  country  in  a  state 
of  great  alarm.  .  .  .  General  Castro  was  military  com- 
mander, and  was  actively  exerting  his  influence  to  ag- 
gravate the  jealousy  of  the  native  Calif ornians  towards 
foreign  residents.  He  had  issued  a  proclamation  aimed 
at  Americans  particularly  and  requiring  them  to  leave  the 
country.  It  became  evident  that  measures  had  been  for 
some  time  secretly  concerting  among  many  of  the  leading 
Spanish  Calif  ornians,  to  transfer  the  country  to  the  pro- 


ARMY  29 

tection  and  control  of  Great  Britain,  and  to  drive  out  or 
exterminate  all  American  settlers  (that  is,  as  the  word 
is  universally  understood,  all  settlers  from  the  United 
States)  ;  to  expel  them  utterly,  with  their  families,  and  to 
take  possession  of  their  lands.  In  order  to  accomplish 
this  more  effectually,  the  Indian  tribes  were  made  to  par- 
ticipate in  the  conspiracy,  and  instigated  to  burn  and  de- 
stroy the  crops  and  houses  of  Americans.  .  .  .  When 
Captain  Fremont  came  down  into  the  Sacramento  Valley, 
men,  women  and  children  flocked  to  him  as  a  country- 
man. .  .  .  He  obtained  information  of  a  scheme,  the 
authentic  and  official  records  of  which  he  afterwards 
found  in  the  archives  of  California,  while  occupying  the 
governmental  house  in  Los  Angeles. 

"A  Catholic  priest,  named  Engenio  Macnamara,  in  the 
year  1845  and  the  early  part  of  1846,  was  domesticated 
with  the  British  legation  at  the  city  of  Mexico.  During 
that  time  he  made  application  for  a  grant  of  land  for  the 
purpose  of  establishing  a  colony  in  California.  He  asked 
for  a  square  league,  containing  4,428  acres  .  .  .  the 
territory  to  be  conveyed  to  him  should  be  around  San 
Francisco  Bay,  embrace  three  thousand  square  leagues, 
and  include  the  entire  valley  of  the  San  Joaquin.  He 
agreed  to  bring  a  thousand  families  at  the  beginning. 
His  proposal  was  favorably  entertained  by  the  central 
government.  It  was  referred,  for  a  final  decision,  to  the 
landholders  and  local  authorities  of  California.  Con- 
ventions were  about  being  held  to  perfect  the  arrange- 
ment, Macnamara  was  landed,  from  the  British  frigate 
Juno,  one  of  Sir  George  Seymour's  fleet  at  Santa  Bar- 
bara, just  at  this  time.  Everything  was  ripe  for  a  final 
settlement  of  the  whole  matter,  and  by  virtue  of  this 
grant  of  land  to  Macnamara,  the  whole  country  would 
have  passed  under  British  protection. 


30  OUR  UNITED  STATES 

"The  point  was  reached  at  which  it  became  necessary 
for  Fremont  to  decide.  The  Indians  had  begun  to  burn 
the  crops  of  the  American  settlers,  and  were  assembled 
in  a  large  force  of  about  six  hundred  warriors,  at  or  near 
what  is  known  as  Redding's  Ranch,  about  thirty-five 
or  forty  miles  from  his  encampment.  He  must  either 
quit  the  country,  and  leave  the  American  settlers,  with 
their  wives  and  children,  to  utter  ruin  and  a  fearful  fate, 
or  he  must  step  forward  as  their  defender.  ...  To  head 
a  rebellion  in  a  country  with  which  his  own,  so  far  as  he 
knew,  was  at  peace,  was  assuming  a  most  serious  re- 
sponsibility. .  .  .  He  called  his  men  together,  laid  before 
them  the  state  of  the  case,  and  referred  to  the  destruction 
impending  over  those  residents  of  California  who  were 
their  countrymen.  He  told  them  that  he  had  no  right,  as 
a  United  States  officer,  to  resist  the  authorities  or  make 
war  upon  the  subjects  of  a  government  with  which  his 
country  was  at  peace.  ...  If  they  wished  to  volunteer 
in  defence  of  the  American  settlers  and  their  families, 
they  were  at  liberty  to  do  so.  ...  They  unanimously  de- 
clared their  readiness  to  join  him,  and  appointed  him 
their  commander.  He  instantly  marched  against  the  In- 
dians and  dispersed  five  villages  in  one  day,  in  such 
rapid  succession  that  notice  of  his  approach  could  not  be 
sent  forward.  .  .  .  He  thus  utterly  annihilated  the  Indian 
combination,  and  rescued  the  settlers  from  threatening 
ruin  without  loss  of  a  man.  ...  By  rapid  and  vigorous 
movements,  Castro's  forces  were  all  driven  from  the 
country  north  of  the  bay  of  San  Francisco.  ...  By  the 
celerity  of  these  bold  movements,  the  power  of  Mexico 
over  North  California  was  broken  down  forever,  and  the 
whole  golden  empire  secured  to  the  United  States." 


CHAPTER  IV 
DOMESTIC  DISTURBANCES 

WHILE  Colonel  Fremont  was  extending  his  valuable 
activities  in  exploration  and  scientific  research,  a  problem 
was  confronting  the  government  that  at  repeated  intervals 
has  always  been  a  factor  in  the  maintenance  of  friendly 
relations  with  adjacent  powers.  The  infringement  of  the 
neutrality  laws  by  zealous  and  sometimes  lawless  citizens 
had  been  a  menace  to  American  peace  as  early  as  1836, 
when  what  is  known  as  the  Sabine  Affair  all  but  pre- 
cipitated war  with  Mexico  at  that  date. 

Texas  in  her  struggle  for  independence  had  won  the 
sympathy  of  our  liberty  loving,  adventurous  citizens,  who 
in  inconsiderable  numbers  had  crossed  the  frontier  and 
joined  the  fighting  forces.  National  aid  was  sent  across 
the  border  and  other  evidences  of  too  great  sympathy  with 
those  in  revolt  had  caused  the  Mexican  authorities  to  ap- 
peal to  the  American  government  for  the  strict  enforce- 
ment of  neutrality  and  to  prevent  armed  bodies  from  en- 
tering Texas  from  this  side  of  the  border. 

To  General  Gaines,  then  in  command  of  the  Depart- 
ment of  the  West,  was  given  the  difficult  task  of  enforc- 
ing the  laws.  Certain  information  to  the  effect  that  the 
Mexicans  were  endeavoring  to  secure  Indian  assistance 
from  along  our  Louisiana  border,  to  suppress  the  Texan 
revolutionists,  caused  General  Gaines  to  march  to  the 
frontier  about  the  middle  of  April,  1836,  where  he  added 

31 


32  OUR  UNITED  STATES 

to  his  forces  by  applying  to  the  Governors  of  Louisiana, 
Kentucky,  Alabama  and  Mississippi,  for  a  militia  force 
of  10,000  men,  and  with  these  he  moved  across  the  Sabine 
and  occupied  Nacogdoches,  in  Texas  territory.  The 
rumors  of  a  Mexican  advance  proved  to  be  a  ruse  by 
which  the  Texan  authorities  had  secured  the  presence  of 
a  large  armed  force,  for  the  purpose  of  deterring  the 
Mexicans  in  the  furtherance  of  their  designs.  When  this 
information  reached  the  President,  a  prompt  return  and 
disbandment  of  the  militia  was  ordered  and  General 
Gaines  was  severely  criticised. 

In  1837,  the  unrest  in  Canada  and  the  desire  of  a  large 
number  of  its  citizens  for  a  separation  from  Great  Britain 
won  the  sympathies  and  assistance  of  numbers  of  Ameri- 
can citizens  along  our  northern  borders.  Secret  societies 
similar  to  those  already  existing  in  Canada  were  formed 
in  Vermont  and  Northern  New  York.  Public  meetings 
took  place  in  Niagara  Falls,  Buffalo,  Oswego  and  other 
cities;  the  excitement  and  sympathy  with  the  revolu- 
tionists extended  to  the  states  of  Pennsylvania,  Michigan 
and  Ohio  and  large  numbers  exemplified  their  sympathies 
with  the  "Patriots,"  as  the  Canadian  insurgents  were 
called,  by  contributions  of  money,  organizing  themselves 
into  military  companies,  and  at  last  establishing  them- 
selves on  Navy  Island,  two  miles  below  the  Falls,  in  the 
Niagara  River,  under  the  command  of  Rensselaer  Van 
Rensselaer,  of  Albany,  New  York.  This  entrance  on 
Canadian  soil  of  an  armed  force  of  American  citizens 
avowedly  in  sympathy  with  Canadian  revolutionists  in- 
duced the  home  government  to  remonstrate  with  the 
authorities  of  the  United  States,  and  upon  the  American 
seizure  of  Navy  Island,  to  order  Colonel  McNab  to  re- 
sort to  force  in  restoring  neutrality  between  the  two 
powers. 


ARMY  33 

His  first  act  was  to  seize  the  steamer  Caroline  lying  at 
Schlosser,  on  the  American  side,  set  it  on  fire  and  let  it 
drift  over  the  falls.  This  tragic  incident  occurred  on  the 
night  of  December  29,  1837,  and  created  great  feeling  of 
resentment  and  anger  when  it  was  learned  that  in  no  way 
was  she  concerned  with  the  "Patriots"  and  that  her  crew 
were  the  innocent  victims  of  a  brutal  murder.  Indig- 
nation ran  so  high  that  General  Scott,  U.  S.  A.,  was  given 
authority  to  call  upon  the  militia  from  the  States  of  New 
York  and  Vermont,  if  he  felt  such  a  measure  was  neces- 
sary to  preserve  order.  His  instructions  of  January  5th, 
embodied  the  following  extract : 

"It  is  important  that  the  troops  called  into  the  service 
should  be,  if  possible,  exempt  from  the  state  of  excite- 
ment which  the  late  violation  of  our  territory  has  created, 
and  you  will  therefore  impress  upon  the  governors  of 
these  border  states  the  propriety  of  selecting  troops  from- 
a  portion  of  the  State  distant  from  the  theatre  of  action. 
The  Executive  possesses  no  legal  authority  to  employ 
the  military  force  to  restrain  persons  within  our  juris- 
diction, and  who  ought  to  be  under  our  control,  from  vio- 
lating the  laws,  by  making  incursions  into  the  territory 
of  the  neighboring  and  friendly  nations  with  hostile  in- 
tent. I  can  give  you,  therefore,  no  instructions  on  that 
subject,  but  request  that  you  will  use  your  influence  to 
prevent  such  excesses  and  to  preserve  the  character  of 
this  Government  for  good  faith  and  a  proper  regard  for 
the  rights  of  friendly  powers." 

On  his  arrival  at  Buffalo,  General  Scott  called  upon 
the  governor  of  New  York  for  1,500  militia,  but  before 
they  could  be  assembled  the  Patriot  forces  on  Navy  Is- 
land had  determined  to  evacuate  that  point  as  possessing 
no  strategic  advantage.  Accordingly,  on  the  13th  of 
January,  in  the  presence  of  General  Scott,  Governor 


34  OUR  UNITED  STATES 

Marcy,  and  such  of  the  militia  as  were  drawn  from 
Buffalo,  the  Patriots  crossed  over  in  boats  to  Grand  Is- 
land where  they  surrendered  their  arms,  and  from  thence 
to  the  mainland,  where  General  Van  Rensselaer  was  ar- 
rested by  the  United  States  Marshal.  After  this  the 
Patriots  established  themselves  at  various  points  along 
the  border  of  Lakes  Erie  and  Ontario,  arid  on  the 
frontiers  of  Vermont  and  Michigan,  and  carried  on  a 
guerrilla  warfare.  Some  800  fortified  themselves  on 
Gibralta  Island  in  Detroit  River  and  another  considerable 
body  gathered  at  Clayton.  On  the  5th  of  February,  about 
2,000  of  them  crossed  to  the  Canada  side  below  Maiden ; 
but,  evidently  dismayed  at  their  own  temerity,  recrossed 
to  the  American  shore  and  surrendered  to  General  Brady 
at  Fort  Wayne.  A  few  days  later  the  State  arsenals  at 
Watertown  and  Batavia,  New  York,  were  broken  open 
and  plundered,  as  was  the  United  States  arsenal  at 
Elizabethtown.  By  the  middle  of  June  these  outrageous 
acts  had  become  so  annoying  that  the  Government  deter- 
mined to  end  them.  Regular  troops  were  stationed  at  or 
near  Buffalo  and  along  the  Niagara  frontier ;  at  Sackett's 
Harbor,  Fort  Covington,  Champlain  and  Plattsburg  in 
New  York,  and  at  Swanton,  Derby,  and  Troy  in  Vermont. 
The  governor  of  New  York  recalled  his  militia — which 
had  been  mustered  out  after  the  surrender  of  Navy  Is- 
land— and  every  possible  avenue  between  the  two  coun- 
tries was  carefully  guarded;  and  these  precautions  were 
kept  up  for  the  following  six  months. 

The  Patriot  War  terminated  somewhat  ignominiously 
and  unexpectedly  about  the  middle  of  November,  when 
in  an  attack  upon  Presscott,  where  they  were  many  times 
outnumbered,  they  were  beaten  and  compelled  to  sur- 
render unconditionally. 

In  a  proclamation  issued  by  the  President  dated  No- 


ARMY  35 

vember  21, 1838,  he  warned  the  people  for  the  second  time 
against  the  consequences  of  their  folly.  The  hopeless- 
ness of  the  cause  had  already  discouraged  many  of  its 
adherents  and  gradually  its  sympathizers  slipped  away, 
the  societies  disbanded  and  the  Patriots  became  no  longer 
a  cause  of  international  complications. 

From  this  time  until  the  acceptance  on  the  part  of  the 
Republic  of  Texas,  of  the  terms  of  annexation  offered  by 
our  Government  excited  the  ill  will  of  the  Government  of 
Mexico  and  thus  compelled  the  sending  of  troops  to  the 
Rio  Grande,  there  was  with  one  exception,  comparative 
quiet  from  domestic  disturbances  throughout  the 
country. 

This  exception,  however,  furnished  the  first  occasion 
for  the  President  to  decide  whether  as  a  matter  of  fact 
an  insurrection  against  the  government  of  a  State  actually 
existed,  and  whether  it  would  be  lawful  for  him  to  inter- 
vene between  two  persons,  each  claiming  to  be  the  execu- 
tive, and  two  organized  bodies,  each  claiming  to  be  the 
legal  one. 

The  State  of  Rhode  Island,  which  was  the  last  of  the 
thirteen  colonies  to  ratify  the  National  Constitution,  was 
also  the  last  to  abandon  her  charter  government.  For 
nearly  two  hundred  years  the  people  of  that  State  pos- 
sessed no  fundamental  law  except  the  charter  granted  by 
Charles  II  in  1663,  and  the  usage  of  the  legislature  under 
it.  This  charter,  among  other  features,  restricted  the 
right  of  suffrage  to  owners  of  a  freehold  and  to  their 
eldest  sons.  Framed  at  the  time  when  Newport  was  the 
principal  town,  it  gave  her  six  deputies  in  the  lower  house 
of  the  legislature,  while  Providence  was  given  but  four. 
In  the  meantime  Providence  had  increased  its  population 
to  nearly  three  times  that  of  Newport,  while  in  1840  the 
landholders  numbered  scarcely  one-eighth  of  the  adult 


36  OUR  UNITED  STATES 

male  population.  These  restrictions,  as  their  inequalities 
increased  with  time,  became  more  and  more  obnoxious, 
and  finally  produced  open  discontent.  Many  attempts  of 
the  minority  in  the  legislature  to  secure  reform  having 
failed,  the  people  in  mass  meeting  at  Providence  in  July 
1841,  authorized  the  assembling  of  a  convention  to  frame 
a  constitution.  This  constitution  having  been  submitted 
to  the  people  in  December,  1841,  it  was  claimed  that  a 
vote  equal  to  a  majority  of  the  adult  male  citizens  of  the 
State  was  given  for  its  adoption;  and  it  was  further 
asserted  that  this  affirmative  vote  included  as  well  a  clear 
majority  of  the  freeholders,  or  those  entitled  to  vote 
under  the  charter.  In  the  meantime  under  the  authority 
of  the  legislature,  the  "charter  party"  so  called,  had  held 
a  convention  and  framed  a  constitution  which  was  sub- 
mitted to  the  people  in  March,  1842,  and  rejected.  The 
opposition,  disregarding  this,  ordered  an  election  for  the 
8th  of  April,  1842,  and  boldly  announced  their  intention 
to  see  that  the  officers  chosen  at  such  election  should  be 
seated.  On  the  4th  of  April  the  governor  made  a  formal 
requisition  upon  the  United  States. 

Messrs.  Whipple,  Francis  and  Potter  were  the  bearers 
of  a  letter  from  the  Governor  in  which  the  situation  is 
given  in  detail.  In  this  letter  the  governor  advances  the 
argument  that  a  proclamation  from  the  President  and 
the  presence  in  the  State  of  an  officer  of  the  Army  would 
convince  the  opposition  that  a  contest  with  the  State 
government  would  involve  them  in  a  contest  with  the 
Federal  Government,  and  hence  would  operate  as  a  pre- 
ventive to  anticipated  violence  and  deter  them  from 
carrying  out  their  intentions.  To  this  the  President  re- 
plied on  the  llth  that  in  his  opinion  the  time  had  not  ar- 
rived for  Federal  interference;  that  "there  must  be  an 
actual  insurrection,  manifested  by  lawless  assemblages  of 


ARMY  37 

the  people  or  otherwise,  to  whom  a  proclamation  may  be 
addressed  and  who  may  be  required  to  betake  themselves 
to  their  respective  abodes."  At  the  same  time  he  assured 
the  Governor  that  should  the  time  arrive,  "when  an  in- 
surrection shall  exist  against  the  government  of  Rhode 
Island,  and  a  requisition  shall  be  made  upon  the  Execu- 
tive of  the  United  States  to  furnish  that  protection  which 
is  guaranteed  to  each  State  by  the  Constitution  and  the 
laws,  I  shall  not  be  found  to  shrink  from  the  performance 
of  a  duty,  which,  while  it  would  be  the  most  painful,  is  at 
the  same  time  the  most  imperative." 

On  the  18th  of  April  the  election  ordered  under  the 
new  constitution  was  held,  and  a  full  board  of  officers 
chosen,  of  whom  one  Thomas  W.  Dorr,  was  the  Gov- 
ernor. The  new  government  organized  at  Providence 
on  the  3rd  of  May;  both  houses  of  the  legislature  as- 
sembled and  resolutions  were  passed  requesting  the 
governor  (Dorr)  to  inform  the  President  of  the  United 
States  that  a  State  government  had  been  duly  elected  and 
organized  under  the  constitution. 

To  resolutions  introduced  the  following  day  by  the 
general  assembly  in  session  at  Newport  the  President  re- 
plied on  the  7th  of  May,  in  a  letter  to  Governor  King, 
that  from  information  in  his  possession,  he  is  led  to  be- 
lieve that  the  danger  is  over-estimated ;  "that  the  lawless 
assemblages  have  already  dispersed  and  that  the  danger 
of  domestic  violence  is  hourly  diminishing,  if  it  has  not 
already  disappeared."  He  reiterated  his  assurance  that 
"if  resistance  be  made  to  the  laws  of  Rhode  Island  by 
such  force  as  the  civil  power  shall  be  unable  to  overcome, 
it  will  be  the  duty  of  this  .Government  to  enforce  the  con- 
stitutional guaranty."  The  same  day  Dorr  issued  a 
proclamation  appealing  to  the  people  from  the  proposed 
interference  of  the  President  of  the  United  States  in  the 


38  OUR  UNITED  STATES 

affairs  of  Rhode  Island,  in  which  occurred  the  following 
language : 

"It  has  become  my  duty  to  say  that  so  soon  as  a 
soldier  of  the  United  States  shall  be  set  in  motion,  by 
whatever  direction,  to  act  against  the  people  of  this  State 
in  aid  of  the  charter  government  I  shall  call  for  that  aid 
to  oppose  all  such  force,  which  I  am  fully  authorized  to 
say,  will  be  immediately  and  most  cheerfully  tendered  to 
the  service  of  the  people  of  Rhode  Island  from  the  city 
of  New  York  and  from  other  places.  The  contest  will 
then  become  national  and  our  State  the  battle  ground  of 
American  freedom. 

•* 

"As  requested  by  the  general  assembly,  I  enjoin  upon 
the  militia  to  elect  their  company  officers ;  and  I  call  upon 
volunteers  to  organize  themselves  without  delay.  The 
military  are  directed  to  hold  themselves  in  readiness  for 
immediate  action." 

On  the  18th  a  body  of  men  assembled  at  Providence 
and  under  the  leadership  of  Dorr  attempted  to  seize  the 
State  arsenal,  but  dispersed  on  the  approach  of  Governor 
King  with  a  body  of  militia.  Dorr  now  left  the  State, 
but  rumors  soon  came  that  he  was  enlisting  men 
and  collecting  arms  in  the  neighboring  States  for  the  pur- 
pose of  moving  an  armed  force  upon  the  existing  govern- 
ment. Acting  upon  this  information  Governor  King 
again  addressed  the  President  on  the  20th  of  May. 
After  reciting  the  situation,  and  expressing  his  fears  that 
"a  civil  war  of  the  most  destructive  and  vindictive 
character"  was  imminent,  he  adds: 

"In  this  posture  of  affairs  I  deem  it  my  duty  to  call 
upon  Your  Excellency  for  the  support  guaranteed  by  the 
Constitution.  .  .  .  You  will  see  by  the  statement  of  the 
secret  agent  of  the  government  that  the  time  put  for  this 


ARMY  39 

incursion  is  very  near.  The  mustering  of  the  insur- 
gents and  their  movement  upon  the  city  will  probably  be 
with  the  greatest  expedition  when  once  commenced — in 
a  time  too  short  for  a  messenger  to  reach  Washington 
and  return  with  aid.  I  therefore  make  this  application 
before  any  movement  of  magnitude  on  their  part,  in  order 
that  we  may  be  prepared  at  the  briefest  notice  to  quell 
domestic  insurrection  and  repel  invasion." 

The  President's  reply  is  dated  May  28.  He  informs 
the  governor  that  measures  are  being  taken  to  ascertain 
the  extent  of  the  danger,  and  that  "should  the  necessity 
of  the  case  require  the  interposition  of  the/  authority  of 
the  United  States  it  will  be  rendered  in  the  manner  pre- 
scribed by  the  laws."  .  .  . 

On  this  date  the  Secretary  of  War  was  instructed  to 
direct  Colonel  Bankhead  at  Newport  to  send  a  prudent 
officer  to  the  scene  of  disturbance  to  procure  all  possible 
information  and  report  to  the  President  with  all  possible 
despatch,  and  at  the  same  time  to  convey  similar  instruc- 
tions to  General  Wool  at  New  York,  and  to  General 
Eustace  at  Boston.  For  the  ensuing  month  the  Dorr 
party  gave  little  or  no  sign  of  their  intentions,  and  it  was 
confidently  believed  that  they  had  abandoned  their  proj- 
ects, when  on  the  23rd  of  June,  Dorr  suddenly  appeared 
at  the  village  of  Chepachet,  some  ten  or  twelve  miles  to 
the  northeast  of  Providence,  with  a  force  estimated  at 
500  to  1,000  men,  fully  armed  and  provided  with  cannon, 
camp  equipage,  and  stores.  On  the  receipt  of  this  intelli- 
gence the  governor  again  appealed  to  Washington,  re- 
citing the  situation  and  reporting  that  in  many  parts  of 
the  State  the  civil  authority  is  disregarded  and  paralyzed. 

The  President  now  calls  the  attention  of  the  governor 
to  a  fact  heretofore  overlooked,  viz.  "that  the  legislature 
of  the  State  is  now  in  session,  and,  as  under  the  law  the 


40  OUR  UNITED  STATES 

State  executive  has  no  authority  to  summon  to  the  aid 
of  the  State  the  military  force  of  the  United  States,  ex- 
cept in  cases  when  the  legislature  can  not  be  convened, 
such  summons  must  come  from  that  body."  On  the 
25th  of  June,  the  general  assembly  declared  martial  law. 
On  the  27th  a  militia  force  of  2,500  to  3,000  men  was  put 
in  motion  and  by  two  or  more  roads  marched  upon 
Chepachet,  where  Dorr,  with  about  250  men,  some  two- 
thirds  of  whom  were  armed,  was  stationed  behind  some 
earth  works,  with  six  pieces  of  cannon.  On  that  date 
Colonel  Bankhead  then  at  Providence  reported  to  the 
Adjutant  General  that  the  insurgents,  some  2,500  in 
number,  with  1,500  muskets  and  ten  or  twelve  cannon, 
were  strongly  intrenched  at  Chepachet;  that  the  militia 
had  assembled  at  Providence  with  2,000  men,  and  that  it 
seemed  impossible  to  avoid  a  conflict  without  the  inter- 
position of  a  strong  regular  force.  At  the  same  time  an 
urgent  appeal  for  aid  came  from  the  Rhode  Island  dele- 
gation in  Congress,  in  which  they  requested  an  immediate 
compliance  with  the  governor's  requisition,  as  being  "the 
only  measure  that  can  now  prevent  the  effusion  of  blood 
and  the  calamities  of  intestine  violence,  if  each  has  not 
already  occurred."  Early  in  the  morning  of  the  28th 
the  State  troops  moved  upon  these  works  at  Chepachet 
and  found  them  deserted,  Dorr  and  his  men  having  dis- 
persed during  the  night.  On  the  29th  the  President  hav- 
ing decided  that  the  time  for  action  had  arrived,  in- 
structed Secretary  of  War  to  proceed  to  Rhode  Island, 
and,  in  the  event  of  a  requisition  being  made  upon  the 
President  in  conformity  with  the  laws,  he  should  cause 
the  proclamation  already  prepared  and  signed  to  be 
published;  that  the  Federal  troops  from  Fort  Adams 
should  be  placed  in  such  position  as  would  enable  them  to 


ARMY  41 

defend  the  city  of  Providence,  and  that,  should  circum- 
stances render  it  necessary,  he  should  call  upon  the 
governors  of  Massachusetts  and  Connecticut  for  such 
numbers  of  militia  as  might  be  sufficient  to  terminate  the 
insurrection.  "Happily,"  says  President  Tyler  in  his 
message  of  April  9,  1844,  to  Congress,  "there  was  no 
necessity  for  either  issuing  the  proclamation  or  the  re- 
quisition or  for  removing  the  troops  from  Fort  Adams, 
where  they  had  been  properly  stationed.  Chepachet  was 
evacuated,  and  Mr.  Dorr's  troops  dispersed  without  the 
necessity  of  the  interposition  of  any  military  force  by 
this  Government,  thus  confirming  me  in  my  early  im- 
pressions that  nothing  more  had  been  designed  from  the 
first  by  those  associated  with  Mr.  Dorr  than  to  excite  fear 
and  apprehension,  and  thereby  obtain  concessions  from 
the  constituted  authorities  which  might  be  claimed  as  a 
triumph  over  the  existing  government. 

"With  the  dispersion  of  Mr.  Dorr's  troops  ended  all 
difficulties.  A  convention  was  shortly  afterwards  called, 
by  due  course  of  law,  to  amend  the  fundamental  law,  and 
a  new  constitution,  based  on  more  liberal  principles  than 
that  abrogated,  was  proposed,  and  adopted  by  the  people. 
Thus  the  great  American  experiment  of  a  change  of 
government  under  the  influence  of  opinion  and  not  of 
force  has  been  again  crowned  with  success,  and  the  State 
and  people  of  Rhode  Island  repose  in  safety  under  insti- 
tutions of  their  own  adoption,  unterrified  by  any  future 
prospect  or  necessary  change  and  secure  against  domestic 
violence  and  invasion  from  abroad.  I  congratulate  the 
country  upon  so  happy  a  termination  of  a  condition  of 
things  which  seemed  at  one  time  seriously  to  threaten 
the  public  peace.  It  may  justly  be  regarded  as  worthy 
of  the  age  and  country  in  which  we  live." 


42  OUR  UNITED  STATES 

Mr.  Dorr  returned  to  the  State  on  the  29th  of  October, 
was  arrested,  tried  upon  a  charge  of  high  treason,  con- 
victed and  sentenced  to  imprisonment  for  life,  but  was 
released  in  1847,  under  a  general  act  of  amnesty. 


CHAPTER  V 
INDIAN  TREATIES  AND  WARFARE 

THE  Indian  policy  of  the  government  of  the  United 
States  was  the  outgrowth  of  the  general  policy  and  prac- 
tice founded  by  the  nations  of  Europe  on  the  principle  of 
right  of  discovery,  which  gave  title  to  the  government  by 
whose  subjects  or  by  whose  authority  it  was  made,  against 
all  other  European  governments,  the  title  for  which  was 
consummated  by  possession.  With  the  independence  of 
the  colonies  came  the  natural  right  of  acquiring  soil  from 
the  natives  and  establishing  settlements  upon  it.  The 
great  discovering  Powers,  England,  France,  Spain  and 
Portugal,  admitted  the  Indians  to  have  the  "right  of  oc- 
cupancy," a  right  alienable  in  but  two  ways,  the  right  of 
purchase  or  by  conquest.  Their  right  to  complete 
sovereignty  as  independent  nations  was  not  recognized 
nor  was  their  power  to  dispose  of  the  soil  at  their  own 
free  will  to  whomsoever  they  pleased,  as  this  encroached 
upon  the  principles  which  gave  exclusive  title  to  those 
foreigners  who  had  discovered  it.  With  the  growth  of 
the  United  States  it  was  inevitable  that  the  tide  of  emi- 
gration to  the  frontiers  should  gradually  push  the  Indian 
farther  westward.  In  almost  all  instances  the  right  of 
occupancy  was  bought  of  the  native,  the  bargain  being  in 
the  nature  of  a  treaty ;  nevertheless,  the  inevitable  en- 
croachments of  civilization  and  the  permanent  security 
of  the  settlers,  was  not  obtained  without  a  long  series  of 

43 


44  OUR  UNITED  STATES 

encounters  with  the  savages,  which  lasted  for  a  period  of 
more  than  a  century. 

"The  conception  of  Indian  character,"  writes  Colonel 
Richard  I.  Dodge,  "is  almost  impossible  to  a  man  who 
has  passed  the  greater  portion  of  his  life  surrounded  by 
the  influences  of  a  cultivated,  refined  and  moral  society. 
The  truth  is  simply  too  shocking,  and  the  revolted  mind 
takes  refuge  in  dis-belief  as  the  less  painful  horn  of 
dilemma.  As  a  first  step  toward  an  understanding  of  his 
character  we  must  get  at  his  standpoint  of  morality.  As 
a  child  he  is  not  brought  up.  From  the  dawn  of  intelli- 
gence his  own  wile  is  his  law.  There  is  no  right  and  no 
wrong  to  him.  No  dread  of  punishment  restrains  him 
from  any  act  that  boyish  fun  or  fury  may  prompt.  No 
lessons  inculcating  the  beauty  and  sure  reward  of  good- 
ness or  the  hideousness  and  certain  punishment  of  vice 
are  ever  wasted  on  him.  The  men  by  whom  he  is  sur- 
rounded, and  to  whom  he  looks  as  models  for  his  future 
life,  are  great  and  renowned  just  in  proportion  to  their 
ferocity,  to  the  scalps  they  have  taken,  or  the  thefts  they 
have  committed.  His  earliest  boyish  memory  is  probably 
a  dance  of  rejoicing  over  the  scalps  of  strangers,  all  of 
whom  he  is  taught  to  regard  as  enemies.  The  lessons 
of  his  mother  awaken  only  a  desire  to  take  his  place  as 
soon  as  possible  in  fight  and  foray.  The  instruction  of 
his  father  is  only  such  as  is  calculated  to  fit  him  best  to 
act  a  prominent  part  in  the  chase,  in  theft,  and  in  murder. 
Virtue,  morality,  generosity,  honor,  are  words  not  only 
absolutely  without  significance  to  him,  but  are  not  ac- 
curately translated  into  any  Indian  language  on  the 
plains." 

One  of  the  first  treaties  under  the  direction  of  the  War 
Department  was  negotiated  by  General  St.  Clair  in 
January,  1789,  with  the  "Six  Nations,"  consisting  of  those 


ARMY  45 

warlike  tribes,  the  Mohawks,  Oneidas,  Onondagas, 
Cayugas,  Senecas,  and  Tuscaroras,  who  terrorized  a 
large  section  of  the  country  from  Lake  Champlain  to  the 
western  boundary  of  Lake  Erie.  By  this  treaty  the 
western  boundary  of  the  territory  was  fixed  along  the 
line  of  Pennsylvania  and  Ohio. 

At  the  same  period  another  treaty  was  negotiated  with 
the  Wyandot,  Delaware,  Ottawa,  Chippewa,  Pottawa- 
tamie,  and  Sac  nations  defining  the  boundaries  of  north- 
western Ohio,  northern  Indiana  and  Michigan,  and 
providing  for  trade  with  the  Indians.  Treaties  were  ne- 
gotiated by  the  Secretary  of  War,  General  Knox,  in  1790 
with  the  Creek  Indians  and  also  with  the  Cherokees,  by 
which  a  large  portion  of  Georgia  and  what  is  now  Ala- 
bama and  Tennessee  was  secured. 

Five  years  later  (1795)  a  second  treaty  with  the  Six 
Nations  secured  to  the  United  States  large  tracts  of  land, 
by  which  all  the  northeastern  and  much  of  western  New 
York  were  opened  for  white  occupation. 

Through  the  successful  efforts  of  General  Wayne  a 
treaty  was  negotiated  the  same  year  by  which  a  large 
tract  in  Ohio  and  considerable  reservations  to  the  west- 
ward were  secured  to  the  United  States,  extending  our 
frontier  to  a  line  running  between  the  present  city  of 
Cleveland,  Ohio,  and  Louisville,  Kentucky. 

Again  in  June,  1803,  the  tribes  inhabiting  Indiana  and 
Illinois  met  General  Harrison  at  Fort  Wayne  and  a  suc- 
cessful treaty  was  negotiated.  One  item  gave  the  settlers 
the  right  to  build  in  the  Indian  country.  General 
Harrison  again  met  the  Indians  the  following  summer, 
which  resulted  in  the  treaty  of  Vincennes  with  the  last  of 
the  powerful  tribe  of  Kaskaskia,  and  this  was  followed 
the  next  year  by  that  with  the  Delaware  and  Pianka- 
shaws,  whereby  General  Harrison  succeeded  in  securing 


46  OUR  UNITED  STATES 

all  the  southwestern  part  of  the  present  state  of 
Indiana. 

The  year  1805  saw  the  consummation  of  a  number  of 
important  treaties  whereby  the  United  States  gained  large 
areas  of  Indian  country.  "Thus,  by  a  treaty  with  various 
tribes  of  Indians  inhabiting  northern  Ohio  and  Indiana 
and  Michigan,  the  frontier  on  the  Northwest  was  moved 
a  considerable  distance  westward;  an  advantageous 
treaty  with  the  war-like  Chickasaws  gave  the  United 
States  large  parts  of  Kentucky  and  Tennessee.  General 
Harrison  negotiated  on  the  part  of  the  United  States 
several  treaties  with  different  tribes  of  Indians  inhabiting 
the  country  to  considerable  distance  on  either  bank  of  the 
Wabash  River,  in  all  of  which  valuable  cessions  of  lands 
were  made  by  the  savages ;  the  Creeks,  in  a  treaty  ne- 
gotiated by  Secretary  of  War  Dearborn,  made  a  large 
cession  of  their  territory  between  the  Oconee  and  Oc- 
mulgee  Rivers ;  the  Cherokees  also  ceded  a  large  area  of 
the  northern  portion  of  their  territory,  and  in  the  follow- 
ing year  gave  up  to  the  United  States,  by  a  treaty  which 
was  also  negotiated  on  the  part  of  the  government  by  the 
Secretary  of  War  in  person,  all  their  lands  lying  north- 
ward of  the  River  Tennessee.  In  the  three  following 
years,  the  government  also  procured  large  cessions  in 
Michigan  from  the  Chippewa  and  other  nations,  in  In- 
diana and  Illinois  from  the  Delawares  and  associate  tribes 
and  in  what  is  now  Missouri  and  Arkansas,  from  the 
Great  and  Little  Osages. 

At  the  close  of  the  Jefferson  administration  our  frontier 
had  advanced  on  the  Northwest,  West  and  Southwest, 
and  to  this  newly  acquired  country  came  a  steady  stream 
of  settlers,  bringing  with  them  the  civilization  of  the  east 
and  establishing  new  homes  and  opening  this  fertile  coun- 
try to  agriculture  and  trade.  The  long  succession  of 


ARMY  47 

treaties  negotiated  through  the  agency  of  the  War  Depart- 
ment during  the  first  half  of  the  nineteenth  century  se- 
cured in  safety  to  the  incoming  civilization  nearly  all  that 
extensive  territory  between  the  Appalachian  range  and 
"the  western  boundary  of  the  tier  of  states  lying  west  of 
the  Mississippi  River."  It  was  obviously  impossible  that 
so  vast  an  extent  of  territory  should  be  acquired  without 
bloodshed.  Nevertheless  it  devolved  upon  the  Army  to 
negotiate  treaties  of  peace,  bargains  by  which  the  Indian 
relinquished  his  claim,  to  regulate  the  trade  and  inter- 
course with  the  Indian  tribes,  and  to  preserve  peace  on 
the  frontiers.  By  act  of  Congress  citizens  or  residents 
of  the  United  States  were  prohibited  from  passing  within 
certain  Indian  limits,  and  they  were  forbidden  to  hunt  or 
destroy  game,  or  to  drive  cattle  or  other  live  stock  thither 
to  range  on  Indian  reservations.  Persons  were  forbidden 
to  pass  through  the  lands  allotted  to  the  Indians  without 
passports,  and  crimes  against  the  Indians  were  severely 
punished.  It  was  necessary  to  secure  a  license  to  trade 
with  the  Indians  and  this  could  only  be  secured  from  the 
Indian  Office  of  the  War  Department. 

Trading-houses  were  authorized  to  be  established  at  as 
many  places  in  the  Indian  country  as  might  be  designated 
by  the  President.  Writes  L.  D.  Ingersoll :  "These  trad- 
ing-houses authorized  by  a  different  series  of  acts  of  Con- 
gress, were  in  the  charge  of  'agents*  under  the  direct 
supervision  of  the  superintendent  of  Indian  trade.  They 
were  placed  under  heavy  bonds  for  the  faithful  perform- 
ance of  their  duties.  They  were  totally  distinct  from  the 
Indian  traders.  The  traders  carried  on  business  on  their 
own  account  supplying  their  own  capital  and  goods ;  the 
agents  conducted  the  business  of  the  trading-houses  for 
the  United  States,  which  supplied  the  capital  and  goods. 
The  furs  and  peltries  thus  acquired  were  sold  at  public 


48  OUR  UNITED  STATES 

auction  by  the  government  at  different  places  in  the 
country  designated  by  the  President." 

On  the  system  thus  described,  business  with  the  Indians 
was  conducted  and  intercourse  carried  on  until  1822, 
when  the  trading  establishments  were  abolished  by  act  of 
Congress,  and  the  proceeds  directed  to  be  turned  into  the 
public  treasury.  At  about  the  same  time  an  act  was 
passed  amending  the  law  regulating  trade  and  intercourse 
with  the  Indian  tribes,  whereby  the  granting  of  licenses 
to  trade  was  given  to  superintendents  of  Indian  affairs 
and  Indian  agents,  these  being  required  to  make  regular 
returns  of  their  doings  in  the  premises  to  the  Secretary 
of  War.  Stringent  provision  was  made  against  illicit 
trade  with  the  Indians,  and  all  traders  and  officials  having 
to  do  with  Indian  affairs  were  required  to  report  regularly 
and  fully  to  the  War  Department.  This  continued  to  be 
substantially  the  system  for  the  regulation  of  trade  and 
intercourse  with  the  Indians  so  long  as  the  management 
of  their  affairs  remained  in  the  War  Department.  A 
general  superintendent  of  Indian  affairs  to  reside  at  St. 
Louis  was  authorized  by  the  act  of  1822,  which  gave  to 
that  city  for  many  years,  an  extensive  and  profitable 
Indian  trade. 

The  reports  of  the  Department  covered  the  manifold 
labors  growing  out  of  the  regulation  of  trade  and  inter- 
course and  extended  an  attempt  at  their  civilization. 
The  natural  repugnance  of  the  Indian  for  all  forms  of 
labor  was  the  drawback  to  achievement  in  the  line  of 
their  enlightenment.  To  the  Cherokee  nation  above  all 
others  is  due  the  greatest  credit  for  improvement  and 
progress. 

In  July,  1817,  General  Jackson,  General  David  Meri- 
wether,  and  Governor  Joseph  McMinn  of  Tennessee, 
representing  the  United  States,  negotiated  a  treaty  with 


ARMY  49 

the  Cherokees  by  which  the  Indians  ceded  large  tracts  to 
the  government  and  received  large  reservations  on  the 
Arkansas  River. 

The  all  engrossing  topic  before  Congress  in  1830  was 
"the  removal  of  the  Indians"  and  petitions  and  remon- 
strances were  pouring  in  without  number.  In  the  Act  of 
May  28,  1830,  what  is  known  as  Indian  Territory  was 
set  apart.  The  principal  migrations  did  not  occur  until 
1831-1832,  when  the  Chickasaws,  Choctaws  and  Creeks 
were  removed  to  this  reservation. 

The  withdrawal  of  troops  from  Camp  Armistead,  in 
the  Cherokee  country  in  1838,  precipitated  unlawful 
settlement  by  unauthorized  persons  upon  the  lands  oc- 
cupied by  the  Cherokees  within  the  limits  of  North 
Carolina,  Georgia,  Alabama  and  Tennessee.  March  13, 
1838,  two  companies  of  artillery  were  ordered  to  that 
section,  "to  receive  and  execute  any  instructions  they  may 
receive  from  the  Governor  of  North  Carolina  in  regard 
to  the  removal  of  the  intruders  on  the  Cherokee  lands 
within  the  limits  of  that  State."  Three  companies  of  the 
Fourth  Infantry  then  stationed  at  the  Augusta  Arsenal 
were  ordered  to  march  to  Fort  Mitchell,  Alabama,  to  re- 
move intruders  within  that  State  and  Georgia,  under  the 
instructions  of  the  district  attorney  of  Alabama. 

This  protection  to  the  Indians  proved  ineffectual  and 
the  persistence  of  the  settlers  in  occupying  the  Indian 
lands  caused  great  uneasiness  throughout  the  South.  It 
was  at  last  determined  to  remove  the  Indians  to  land  west 
of  the  Mississippi,  and  in  the  spring  of  1838  upon  a  req- 
uisition by  the  government  for  the  assistance  of  militia 
to  serve  for  a  period  of  three  months,  the  removal  of  the 
Indians  took  place,  to  be  followed  by  a  similar  exodus  of 
the  Seminoles  from  Florida  a  few  years  later. 

In  1849  the  control  of  Indian  affairs  passed  from  the 


50  OUR  UNITED  STATES 

War  Department  to  the  Interior  Department.  "During 
the  sixty  years  conduct  of  those  affairs  by  the  War  De- 
partment, nearly  half  the  territory  of  the  Union  had  been 
opened  up  to  settlement  and  actual  development.  From 
the  shores  of  Lake  Champlain  to  the  farther  boundary  of 
the  tier  of  commonwealths  beyond  the  Mississippi  River, 
and  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  on  the  south,  the  savages  had 
been  removed  to  a  safe  distance,  or  were  confined  within 
narrow  reservations  easily  guarded  by  the  militia.  In 
this  vast  expanse,  embracing  much  of  the  magnificent 
valley  of  the  Mississippi  from  which  the  Indians  were  re- 
moved to  make  way  for  our  march  of  empire,  nearly  a 
score  of  States  were  formed,  which,  in  1879  contained 
more  than  half  the  population  of  the  republic  and  the 
preponderance  of  its  political  power." 

Through  a  long  succession  of  treaties  both  before  and 
after  the  removal  of  Indian  affairs  from  the  War  Depart- 
ment, the  Government  assumed  a  position  and  exerted 
a  policy  difficult  if  not  totally  impossible  to  explain.  It 
frequently  gave  to  its  officers  and  agents  instructions  to 
parley  with  the  Indians  and  negotiate  for  certain  terms. 
The  treaty  would  be  ratified  and  signed  and  to  the  dis- 
couragement of  both  parties,  fail  to  be  carried  out  upon 
its  implicit  terms.  That  the  government,  and  by  that 
term  is  meant  Congress,  the  elected  representatives  of 
the  people,  singularly  neglected  to  fulfil  its  obligations 
in  the  matter  of  Indian  treaties,  failed  to  raise  appropria- 
tion for  promised  indemnity  for  lands  bought  from  the 
Indians,  failed  to  supply  them  with  necessary  implements 
and  means  for  earning  their  livelihood,  and  justly  earned 
for  itself  among  the  tribes  and  the  whites  generally, 
the  name  of  "liar"  and  "breaker  of  faith,"  reflects  solely 
upon  the  citizens,  whose  indifference  and  apathy  is  pro- 
verbial so  long  as  their  greed  for  land  or  its  equivalent  in 


ARMY  51 

gold  may  be  secured,  whatever  the  cost  in  loyalty,  in- 
tegrity and  honor. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  reservation  after  reserva- 
tion set  aside  "now  and  forever"  for  the  exclusive  use  of 
the  savage  was  invaded  by  the  white  settler,  encroached 
upon  for  whatever  profit  might  be  secured  from  it  and 
eventually  appropriated  by  him.  The  march  of  civiliza- 
tion westward  was  as  inevitable,  as  the  course  of  the  set- 
ting sun,  but  it  is  equally  obvious  that  in  the  course  of 
the  migration  the  free  booter  and  piratical  spirit  of  the 
emigrant  little  considered  the  obligations  of  the  govern- 
ment to  its  wards.  The  settler  wanted  the  land  and  he 
took  it,  the  government  wanted  the  land  for  the  settler 
and  it  took  it,  upon  terms  and  with  provisions  it  promptly 
forgot  to  fulfil.  If  bloodshed  was  the  price  of  these 
bargains,  then  there  was  the  Army  to  shed  it,  for,  argued 
the  citizen,  what  were  they  there  for  except  as  go  be- 
tweens  for  the  settler,  to  bring  to  terms  the  Indians  who 
were  impeding  the  progress  of  the  nation  and  rendering 
unsafe,  by  cruel  and  violent  remonstrance,  the  rising 
generation  of  citizens  bent  upon  the  possession  and  the 
pursuit  of  happiness. 

The  peculiar  traits  of  Indian  character  made  more  dif- 
ficult their  control  and  subjugation.  The  settler  who  had 
suffered  the  enormities  perpetrated  by  these  savages 
found  a  life  time  too  short  for  his  revenge.  Nor  did  the 
Indian  confine  his  atrocities  to  the  unprotected  frontiers- 
man, but  committed  his  dastardly  murders  within  the 
very  limits  of  the  military  reservation,  where  he  had  been 
accorded  the  privilege  of  passing  the  sentry  ostensibly  on 
an  errand  of  peace. 

The  discovery  of  gold  in  California  and  the  construc- 
tion of  the  transcontinental  railway  precipitated  an  un- 
precedented rush  of  emigration  across  the  plains,  leaving 


52  OUR  UNITED  STATES 

in  its  wake  destruction  to  game  and  fodder  upon  which 
the  Indian  depended  for  his  own  support  and  that  of  his 
horses.  Fort  Kearney,  at  Grand  Island  on  the  Platte 
River,  Fort  Laramie  and  Fort  Bridger  in  Utah,  Fort  Hall, 
in  Idaho,  were  the  principal  posts  in  the  chain  that  al- 
ready stretched  half  way  across  the  continent  and  formed 
the  nucleus  for  that  long  chain  hundreds  in  number, 
whose  garrisons  protected  the  white  settler  and  dis- 
puted with  the  Indians  every  inch  of  ground  from  the 
Mississippi  to  the  Rockies,  from  Mexico  to  the  Canadian 
border. 

This  same  problem,  that  of  the  Indians,  was  one  of  the 
greatest  before  Congress  between  the  years  1866  and 
1874.  Trouble  with  the  savages  which  had  beset  each 
onward  stride  in  the  early  pioneer  days  renewed  itself 
with  fresh  vigor  and  bloody  outrage  at  the  close  of  the 
Civil  War.  Troops  which  had  kept  the  Indians  at  bay 
on  the  outskirts  of  the  western  borders  had  been  called 
to  take  their  place  in  the  theatre  of  action  of  the  Great 
Rebellion ;  thereby  abandoning  some  of  the  army  strong- 
holds in  the  far  West  and  giving  to  the  Indians  the  im- 
pression of  Federal  weakness.  Gradually  the  advance 
frontier  settlers  were  driven  back  for  protection  into  the 
more  settled  communities. 

Meanwhile  the  Indian  had  not  stood  still  in  the 
proximity  of  civilization.  He  had  adopted  most  of  its 
worst  vices  as  well  as  its  best  methods  of  defense.  He 
had  discarded  the  bow  and  arrow  and  procured  for  him- 
self firearms  and  ammunition. 

When  the  army  was  sent  back  to  re-occupy  the  chain 
of  frontier  posts  the  resentment  of  the  wild  tribes  knew 
no  bounds  and  they  were  soon  allied  in  a  determined  pur- 
pose to  resist  the  whites.  Roving  bands  of  Sioux.  North- 


ARMY  53 

ern  and  Southern  Cheyennes,  Assinoboines,  Piegans, 
Arapahoes,  Kiowas,  Pawnees,  Miams,  and  Comanches, 
with  many  lesser  tribes,  roamed  the  country  beyond  the 
Kansas  line  on  the  south  and  Minnesota  on  the  north, 
and  as  far  west  as  the  Pacific  Slope. 

In  Minnesota  and  Dakota  serious  trouble  had  been 
experienced  in  1862,  when  scores  of  unoffending  white 
settlers  had  been  massacred  in  cold  blood,  the  wives  and 
daughters  outraged,  then  killed  or  carried  into  the  hor- 
rors of  Indian  captivity.  No  less  than  six  hundred  and 
forty-four  people  were  killed  before  the  Indian  uprising 
was  put  down  by  General  Sibley  aided  by  Minnesota 
volunteers. 

A  form  of  duty  particularly  trying  to  the  soldier  was 
that  of  military  escort  to  emigrant  trains  while  passing 
through  dangerous  Indian  country.  The  slow  progress 
of  the  "bull"  or  "ox  train"  made  a  most  tedious  journey. 
The  distance  between  camps  depended  on  the  finding  of 
sufficient  grass  for  feeding  the  stock,  and  usually  from 
seven  to  twelve  miles  was  all  that  was  covered  between 
trips.  Frequent  halts  for  accidents  to  wagons  incident 
to  travel  or  lack  of  foresight  on  the  part  of  the  "bull 
wackers"  caused  vexatious  delay  to  all,  for  the  train  must 
not  be  separated  but  at  all  times  kept  close  together.  At 
the  cry  of  "Indians,  Indians,"  every  soldier  would  spring 
quickly  to  his  position  and  return  the  brisk  fire  of  the 
approaching  savages,  while  the  drivers  to  prevent  the 
stampede  of  their  animals  would  instantly  turn  their 
teams  to  form  a  park  for  their  protection. 

Escorting  Government  and  contractors'  mule  trains 
was  less  tedious  but  more  harassing,  although  the  dis- 
tance covered  was  from  twenty  to  thirty  miles  a  day; 
there  was  constant  anxiety  to  protect  the  animals  against 


54  OUR  UNITED  STATES 

the  subtle  wiles  of  the  Indian  horse  thieves,  whose  cun- 
ning and  prowess  was  well  known  to  the  commandant 
and  the  soldiery. 

"This  method  of  guarding  commercial  supply  trains 
and  looking  after  emigrants  was  quietly  kept  up  for 
scores  of  years,"  writes  General  Forsyth,  "in  fact,  from 
almost  the  foundation  of  our  Government  until  it  finally 
culminated  in  guarding  the  surveyors  and  builders  of 
the  Pacific  Railroad  from  1865-1870.  It  had  many  a 
hardship  and  many  a  forgotten  and  almost  unrecorded 
hard  fight  to  mark  its  lapse  of  years,  and  even  at  this  late 
day  there  is  little  doubt  one  could  find  plenty  of  material 
for  popular  romance  should  he  search  carefully  and 
delve  deep  enough  into  the  older  manuscripts  filed  care- 
fully away  among  the  records  of  the  War  Department." 

A  development  of  this  early  duty  eventuated  in 
soldiers  being  used  to  guard  the  Santa  Fe  trail,  which  is 
worth  at  least  a  passing  notice.  Overland  trade  between 
the  United  States  and  northern  Mexico  was  a  gradual 
development  which  primarily  was  the  outcome  of  the 
curiosity  of  a  fur  trapper,  one  James  Pursley,  who, 
listening  to  the  stories  of  some  Indians  whom  he  had  in 
his  employ  about  the  wealth  of  certain  northern  Mexican 
towns,  journeyed  on  horseback  from  the  Platte  River  to 
Santa  Fe  in  1805,  and  liked  the  place  and  people  so  well 
that  he  took  up  his  residence  there.  About  the  same  time 
a  merchant  of  Kaskia,  Illinois,  named  Morrison,  sent  a 
man  named  La  Lande  with  a  stock  of  goods  to  Santa  Fe 
by  pack  train  as  a  venture.  He  (La  Lande)  also  reached 
Santa  Fe,  sold  his  goods,  forgot  to  remit  the  proceeds  to 
Morrison,  and  also  became  a  permanent  resident  of 
Santa  Fe.  It  was  not,  however,  until  the  return  of  Cap- 
tain Pike  from  his  southern  exploring  expedition  in  1808 
with  his  glowing  account  of  Santa  Fe  that  trade  between 


ARMY  55 

the  Southwest  and  northern  Mexico  began  to  take  on 
sufficient  importance  to  attract  the  attention  of  some  of 
the  Southwestern  traders  and  merchants.  Several  small 
caravans  composed  of  pack  horses  and  mules  were 
started  across  the  plains  and  reached  Santa  Fe  and  the 
venture  paid  very  well,  but  in  1812  a  large  and  most 
elaborate  caravan  was  seized  by  the  Mexican  authorities, 
all  of  the  goods  confiscated,  and  the  owners  imprisoned 
for  nearly  nine  years,  or  until  a  revolution  gained  them 
their  liberty. 

In  1821,  one  Glenn,  of  Ohio,  set  out  with  a  trading 
party,  and  in  due  time  reached  Santa  Fe  in  safety.  He 
did  so  well  that  on  his  return  his  reports  fired  the  am- 
bition of  nearly  all  the  Indian  traders  on  the  South- 
western frontier,  and  the  next  Spring  saw  extensive 
preparations  under  way  for  Santa  Fe  by  many  of  the 
most  venturesome  of  the  frontier  merchants.  For  the 
first  eighteen  years  of  this  trade  everything  in  the  shape 
of  goods  was,  as  a  matter  of  course,  packed  upon  horses 
and  mules,  and  the  trail  was  across  the  plains  over  moun- 
tains and  through  deep  canons  by  the  most  direct  route 
to  the  point  of  destination.  In  1824  a  company  of  traders 
from  Missouri  started  out  with  twenty-five  stout,  well- 
loaded  road  wagons,  and  after  many  interesting  and 
exciting  incidents  reached  Santa  Fe  in  safety,  thus  dem- 
onstrating the  fact  that  an  open  and  practical  roadway 
for  wagons  existed  from  the  Missouri  River  to  Santa  Fe, 
a  thing  which  up  to  this  time  would  have  been  scouted 
and  jeered  at  by  any  of  the  old  packers  on  the  Santa  Fe 
trail. 

"Naturally  enough,"  we  read,  "as  a  great  part  of  this 
new  route  passed  through  Indian  country,  in  the  course 
of  time  trouble  developed  with  the  Indians.  It  probably 
grew  up  from  faults  upon  both  sides. 


56  OUR  UNITED  STATES 

"The  Indians  demanded  toll  in  the  shape  of  presents 
from  the  large  and  well-armed  trains,  and  took  what 
they  wished  from  the  weaker  ones.  Again  the  records 
show  that  the  white  men  on  more  than  one  occasion  were 
overbearing  and  insolent  to  the  squaws  and  unjust  in 
their  dealings  with  the  Indians.  At  any  rate  a  state  of 
war  eventually  ensued,  and  the  Santa  Fe  trail  became  a 
dangerous  one,  and  the  trains  were  liable  to  attack  from 
the  Lepans,  Comanches,  and  Arapahoes  at  almost  any 
point  between  the  Missouri  and  the  Arkansas  Rivers. 

"From  this  time  forward  trouble  constantly  ensued,  so 
that  in  the  Spring  of  1829  the  United  States  Govern- 
ment gave  both  cavalry  and  infantry  escorts  from  Inde- 
pendence, Mo.,  the  point  from  which  these  caravans 
started,  to  as  far  as  Choteau  Island  on  the  Arkansas 
River — that  is,  through  the  Comanche  country. 

"This  Western  overland  trade  to  Mexico  reached  its 
climax  in  1843,  when  the  caravan  consisted  of  nearly 
three  hundred  wagons  carrying  merchandise  valued  at 
half  a  million  dollars. 

"About  that  time,  however,  supplies  began  to  come  into 
northern  Mexico  from  Vera  Cruz  on  the  Mexican  coast, 
and  heavy  duties  laid  and  enforced  by  the  Mexicans  left 
no  adequate  margin  of  profit  for  the  overland  traders, 
so  that  it  steadily  decreased  until  after  the  Mexican  War, 
when  it  revived  again  for  a  few  years;  but  in  time  the 
Santa  Fe  Railway  absorbed  it  all,  and  to-day  the  great 
Santa  Fe  trail  is  simply  a  matter  of  half  forgotten  story." 

It  is  not  within  the  scope  of  this  volume  to  enter  into 
details  of  the  numerous  Indian  campaigns,  but  more  par- 
ticularly to  demonstrate  by  a  few  illustrations,  the  varied 
calls  made  upon  the  United  States  Army  Officer  at  times 
when  the  East  considered  the  great  West  serenely  enjoy- 
ing security  and  peace. 


ARMY  57 

The  advance  of  the  settlements  was  universally 
acknowledged  to  be  a  necessity  of  our  national  develop- 
ment ;  the  western  settler  fought  the  battle  of  civilization 
under  the  same  circumstances  and  with  the  same  deter- 
mination as  did  our  forefathers  on  the  Atlantic  shores. 
The  citizen  of  the  East  is  in  the  habit  of  considering  the 
power  of  the  United  States  invincible,  but  the  wild  tribes 
of  western  savages  who  had  not  felt  or  seen  it,  did  not 
so  regard  it.  The  white  settler  looked  to  the  Army  for 
defense.  The  Indians  also  learned  in  time  to  appeal  to 
the  military  for  the  protection  of  their  rights  and  privi- 
leges. The  Army  was  called  upon  to  render  assistance 
to  friendly  tribes  when  attacked  by  marauders,  whether 
Indian,  White  or  Mexican. 

In  his  report  November  1,  1868,  Lieutenant  General 
W.  T.  Sherman,  writing  from  the  Headquarters  Military 
Division  of  Missouri,  described  the  condition  of  Indian 
affairs  in  the  country  west  of  the  Mississippi  River  to 
the  Rocky  Mountains,  including  New  Mexico,  Utah,  and 
Montana.  The  military  departments  of  Missouri,  Platte, 
and  Dakota  were  then  commanded  by  Generals  Sheri- 
dan, Angur  and  Terry. 

"You  will  observe,"  writes  Sherman,  "that  while  the 
country  generally  has  been  at  peace,  the  people  on  the 
plains  and  the  troops  of  my  command  have  been  con- 
stantly at  war,  enduring  all  its  dangers  and  hardships, 
with  none  of  its  honors  or  rewards." 

After  describing  the  conditions  in  Sheridan's  depart- 
ment, he  cites  the  fearful  condition  of  affairs  in  the 
vicinity  of  Denver,  Colorado,  telegraphed  by  Governor 
Hunt  the  4th  of  September.  "Just  returned.  Fearful 
condition  of  things  here.  Nine  persons  murdered  by 
Indians  yesterday  within  a  radius  of  sixty  miles,"  etc., 
and  on  the  24th  of  September,  Acting  Governor  Hull 


58  OUR  UNITED  STATES 

again  telegraphed  from  Denver:  "The  Indians  have 
again  attacked  our  settlements  in  strong  force,  obtaining 
possession  of  the  country  to  within  twelve  miles  of 
Denver.  They  are  more  bold,  fierce,  and  desperate  in 
their  assaults  than  ever  before.  It  is  impossible  to  drive 
them  out  and  protect  the  families  at  the  same  time." 

Such  were  the  heart-rending  appeals  for  help  that 
poured  in  upon  General  Sheridan  who  at  this  time  was 
laboring  with  every  soldier  of  his  command  to  give  all 
possible  protection  to  the  scattered  people  in  the  wide 
range  of  country  from  Kansas  to  Colorado  and  New 
Mexico. 

The  campaigns  of  1868-69  included  some  of  the  most 
daring  and  courageous  feats  in  American  history; 
instance  Colonel  Forsyth  in  command  of  fifty  scouts, 
who,  taking  refuge  on  a  small  island  in  mid  stream  in 
Delaware  creek,  was  beleagured  and  outnumbered  by 
Indians  for  nine  days.  At  first  their  mules  served  as  a 
barricade  and  as  these  were  shot  and  putrified,  they  dug 
holes  and  then  threw  up  earth  works,  behind  which  in 
hunger,  thirst  and  heat  they  defended  themselves  against 
the  enemy.  In  their  desperate  plight,  two  scouts  were 
sent  to  make  their  way  past  the  Indian  sentries  to  Fort 
Wallace  distant  over  one  hundred  miles  for  assistance. 
These  men  made  their  flight  for  life  in  the  face  of  death 
and  starvation,  a  desperate  journey,  from  the  effects  of 
which  one  never  recovered.  The  next  day  two  others 
were  sent  out  with  a  letter  in  which  Colonel  Forsyth 
says  in  part: 

"I  have  eight  badly  and  ten  slightly  wounded  men  to 
take  in,  and  every  animal  I  had  was  killed,  save  seven, 
which  the  Indians  stampeded.  Lieutenant  Beecher  is 
dead,  Acting  Assistant  Surgeon  Novers  probably  can  not 
live  the  night  out.  He  was  hit  in  the  head  Thursday, 


ARMY  59 

and  has  spoken  but  one  rational  word  since.  I  am 
wounded  in  two  places — in  the  right  thigh,  and  my  left 
leg  broken  below  the  knee.  ...  I  can  hold  out  here  for 
six  days  longer  if  absolutely  necessary,  but  please  lose  no 
time." 

He  does  not  even  mention  a  painful  scalp  wound  which 
gave  him  intense  pain  in  his  head.  Of  his  condition  dur- 
ing those  days  of  danger  and  anxiety,  he  writes  simply: 

"I  had  all  I  could  do  to  force  myself  carefully  to  think 
out  the  best  course  to  pursue  under  existing  circum- 
stances." 

And  in  this  connection  it  may  be  well  to  illustrate  how 
the  American  soldier  meets  death  in  line  of  duty,  to  Gen- 
eral Forsyth  we  are  endebted  for  this  simple  picture. 
After  describing  the  murderous  fire  of  the  Indians  he 
writes : 

"Just  then  Lieutenant  Beecher  rose  from  his  rifle  pit, 
staggering  and  leaning  on  his  rifle,  half  dragged  himself 
to  where  I  lay,  and  then  calmly  lying  down  by  my  side, 
laid  his  face  downward  on  his  arm  and  said  quietly  and 
simply,  'I  have  my  death  wound,  General,  I  am  shot  in 
the  side  and  dying.' 

"  'Oh,  no,  Beecher,  no.     It  can't  be  as  bad  as  that/ 

"  'Yes,  Good  night/  And  he  sank  into  semi-uncon- 
sciousness almost  immediately.  I  heard  him  murmur 
once,  'My  poor  mother !'  but  he  soon  became  slightly  de- 
lirious, and  at  sunset  his  life  went  out. 

"  'Good  night,  good  night/ 

"On  the  morning  of  the  ninth  day  one  of  the  men  lying 
near  me  suddenly  sprang  up,  and,  shading  his  hand  with 
his  eyes,  shouted,  'There  are  some  moving  objects  on  the 
far  hills !'  Every  well  man  was  on  his  feet  in  an  instant, 
and  then  some  keen-eyed  scout  shouted,  'By  the  God 
above  us,  it's  an  ambulance  1'  The  strain  was  over.  It 


60  OUR  UNITED  STATES 

was  Colonel  Carpenter's  with  a  troop  of  Tenth  Cavalry." 
The  quarter  of  a  century  following  the  Civil  War  was 
one  continual  repetition  of  similar  events.  The  records 
of  the  period  narrate  in  detail  the  history  that  went  to 
the  forming  of  that  now  powerful  region  which  has 
moved  the  center  of  population  in  gigantic  strides  with 
each  census.  Every  inch  the  army  disputed  with  the 
Indian,  every  mile  stone  should  be  inscribed  as  a  monu- 
ment to  some  forgotten  soldier  killed  in  defense  of  the 
rights  of  the  settlers. 


CHAPTER  VI 
LIEUTENANT  WHIPPLE'S  SURVEYS  AND  ADVENTURES 

ONE  of  the  first  journeys  for  the  survey  of  the  much 
disputed  boundary  between  the  United  States  and  Mex- 
ico, was  undertaken  by  a  small  detachment  of  regulars 
under  Lieutenant  A.  W.  Whipple  in  1849.  This  was 
followed  a  few  years  later  by  a  second  important  expedi- 
tion under  Lieutenant  Whipple  in  connection  with  the 
surveys  for  the  transcontinental  railroad. 

Lieutenant  Whipple's  journal  reads  like  a  romance  and 
his  description  of  the  conditions  under  which  his  work 
was  accomplished  is  graphic  and  absorbing.  His  jour- 
ney to  the  junction  of  the  Rio  Gila  and  the  Colorado 
was  not  a  lengthy  one.  It  covered  only  two  months,  but 
he  nevertheless  found  it  crowded  with  adventure  and 
full  to  overflowing  with  the  romance  of  the  open.  Hav- 
ing received  his  instructions  and  completed  his  prelim- 
inary arrangement,  he  engaged  one  Tomaso  as  guide  and 
Indian  interpreter  and  started  September  11,  1849  from 
the  mission  of  San  Diego  for  the  Junction  of  the  Rio 
Gila  with  the  Colorado.  In  his  journal  he  writes : 

"Tomaso  is  chief  of  the  tribe  of  Indians  called 
Llegeenos,  or  Diegeenos.  Whether  this  was  their  origi- 
nal appellation,  or  they  were  so  named  by  the  Franciscans 
from  San  Diego,  the  principal  mission  among  them,  I 
could  not  learn.  According  to  Tomaso,  his  tribe  num- 
bers about  8,000  persons,  all  speaking  the  same  language, 

61 


62  OUR  UNITED  STATES 

and  occupying  the  territory  from  San  Louis  Rey  to  Aqua 
Caliente. 

"The  mission  of  San  Diego,  about  five  miles  from  the 
town  and  ten  from  the  plaza  of  San  Diego,  is  a  large  pile 
of  adobe  buildings  now  deserted  and  partly  in  ruins. 
There  remains  an  old  Latin  library,  and  the  chapel  walls 
are  yet  covered  with  oil  paintings,  some  of  which  possess 
considerable  merit.  In  front  there  is  a  large  vineyard, 
where  not  only  delicious  grapes,  but  olives,  figs  and  other 
fruits,  are  produced  abundantly.  In  the  days  of  their 
prosperity,  for  many  miles  around,  the  valleys  and  plains 
were  covered  with  cattle  and  horses  belonging  to  this 
mission;  and  the  padres  boasted  that  their  yearly 
increase  was  greater  than  the  Indians  could  possibly 
steal.  But  in  California  the  sun  of  their  glory  is  set 
forever.  Nearby  stand  the  thatched  huts  of  the  Indians, 
formerly  serfs  or  peons — now  the  sole  occupants  of  the 
mission  grounds.  They  are  indolent  and  filthy,  with 
more  of  the  vices  acquired  from  the  whites  than  of  the 
virtues  supposed  to  belong  to  their  race.  Some  of  them 
live  to  a  great  age,  and  one  old  woman,  said  to  be  far 
advanced  on  her  second  century,  looks  like  a  shrivelled 
piece  of  parchment,  and  is  visited  as  a  curiosity.  Many 
of  these  Indians,  men,  women,  and  children,  assembled 
on  the  bank  of  the  stream,  apparently  to  witness  the 
novelty  of  a  military  procession.  But  a  pack  of  cards 
was  produced,  and  seating  themselves  upon  the  ground 
to  a  game  of  moute,  they  were  so  absorbed  in  the  amuse- 
ment as  to  seem  unconscious  of  our  departure. 

"Our  route  leads  over  steep  hills,  uncultivated  and  bar- 
ren excepting  a  few  fields  of  wild  oats.  No  trees;  no 
water  in  sight  from  the  time  of  leaving  the  mission  until 
we  again  strike  the  valley  of  the  river  of  San  Diego, 
half  a  mile  from  Santa  Monica,  the  rancheria  of  Don 


ARMY  63 

Miguel  de  Pederina,  now  occupied  by  his  father-in-law, 
the  prefect  of  San  Diego,  Don  Jose  Antonio  Esedillo. 
The  hill  tops  are  white  with  a  coarse  quartzose  granite, 
but  as  we  approached  the  ranch  of  Don  Miguel  the  foli- 
age of  the  trees  that  fringe  the  bank  of  the  Rio  San 
Diego,  formed  an  agreeable  relief  to  the  landscape. 
Here  the  river  contains  a  little  running  water,  but  before 
reaching  the  mission  it  disappears  from  the  surface,  and 
at  San  Diego  is  two  feet  below  the  bed  of  shining  mica- 
ceous sand.  Maize,  wheat,  barley,  vegetables,  melons, 
grapes,  and  other  fruits,  are  now  produced  upon  this 
ranch  in  abundance.  With  irrigation  the  soil  and  cli- 
mate are  suitable  for  the  cultivation  of  most  of  the  pro- 
ductions of  the  globe.  But  the  mansion  houses  of  such 
great  estates  in  California  are  wretched  dwellings,  with 
mud  walls  and  thatched  roofs.  The  well  trodden  earth 
forms  the  floor,  and  although  wealth  abounds,  with  many 
luxuries,  few  of  the  conveniences  and  comforts  of  life 
seem  known. 

"Upon  entering  San  Felipe,  twenty-six  miles  from 
Santa  Isabel,  we  found  several  parties  of  emigrants, 
some  of  them  destitute  of  provisions.  They  tell  us  that 
upon  the  desert  we  shall  find  many  in  a  condition  bor- 
dering upon  starvation.  They  also  confirm  the  reports 
of  the  emigrants  at  San  Diego,  concerning  the  hos- 
tilities committed  by  the  Indians  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Rio  Gila. 

"September  19.— Left  San  Felipe  at  8  P.  M.  Trees  and 
grass  gave  place  to  rocks  and  sand.  About  two  and  half 
leagues  from  San  Felipe  we  entered  the  dry  bed  of  an 
arroyo,  which  traversed  for  nearly  a  league  a  narrow 
winding  ravine,  produced  by  a  fault  in  the  mountains. 
The  width  in  some  places  was  barely  sufficient  to  admit 
the  passage  of  our  wagons,  while  the  perpendicular 


64  OUR  UNITED  STATES 

height  of  the  rock,  on  either  side,  was  at  least  fifteen 
feet.  Encamped  at  El  Puerto,  three  and  a  half  leagues 
from  San  Felipe,  where  we  found  springs  of  water,  a 
little  grass,  but  no  wood.  Here  we  found  many  emi- 
grants, who  gave  the  same  dreary  account  of  the  desert 
— much  sand  and  no  grass.  One  of  the  men  showed  me 
a  piece  of  lead  ore,  apparently  containing  silver. 

"September  21. — The  day  was  so  warm  that  we  were 
compelled  to  lie  by  at  Vallecita  until  about  5^  P.  M., 
when  we  pursued  our  route  down  the  valley,  which  soon 
stretched  out  into  a  plain.  The  road  followed  a  bed  of 
sand,  in  which  the  feet  of  our  horses,  sank  below  the  fet 
lock  at  every  step.  The  scenery  here,  by  moonlight  was 
beautiful.  The  hills  in  thei  background,  with  angles 
sharp  and  sides  perpendicular,  were  singular  in  the 
extreme.  By  the  dim  light  it  was  hard  to  believe  that 
they  were  not  ruins  of  ancient  works  of  art — one  had 
been  a  temple  to  the  gods,  another  a  regularly  bastioned 
fort.  Vegetation  in  the  valley  remains  unchanged ; 
cacti,  maguey,  kreosote,  dwarf  cedar,  and  the  fouquiera 
spinosa,  are  abundant. 

"Arrived  at  Cariso  creek,  fifteen  miles  from  Vallecita, 
eight  from  Parmetto  spring,  at  midnight.  Found  the 
water  of  the  creek  quite  brackish,  mules  and  horses 
would  scarcely  taste  it,  thirsty  as  they  were.  One  hun- 
dred Indians  are  employed  on  this  ranch  in  cultivating 
the  soil,  doing  the  menial  household  service,  and  attend- 
ing to  the  flocks  and  herds.  Their  pay  is  a  mere  trifle 
and  Sundays  are  allowed  to  them  for  holiday  amuse- 
ments— attending  mass,  riding,  gaming,  drinking.  .  .  . 

"Pursuing  our  journey,  we  were  surprised  to  find  pools 
of  water  standing  in  the  road,  although  there  had  been 
no  rain,  probably,  for  months. 

"On  the  morning  of  September  18th,  we  took  an  early 


ARMY  65 

start,  and,  as  the  short  cut  of  sixteen  miles  to  San  Felipe 
is  not  passable  for  wagons,  we  proceeded  in  a  northerly 
direction  towards  Warner's  ranch.  The  valleys  through 
which  our  route  leads  are  really  charming  for  California. 
The  groves  of  oaks  are  filled  with  birds  of  song,  and 
morning  is  made  joyous  with  the  music  of  the  lark  and 
black  bird. 

"Having  traversed  the  long  valley  of  Warner's  ranch, 
eight  miles  from  Santa  Isabel,  we  struck  the  much  trav- 
elled emigrant  road,  leading  from  the  Colorado  to  El 
Pueblo  de  los  Angeles. 

"Of  food  for  them  there  was  none;  the  emigrants 
had  consumed  every  blade  of  grass  and  every  stick  of 
cane,  so  that  our  sorrowful  animals  were  tied  in 
groups  to  the  wagons  to  ponder  their  fate  upon  the 
desert. 

"Saturday,  September  22d. — The  sun  was  perhaps  half 
an  hour  high  when  our  hungry  animals  were  again  put 
in  harness.  We  are  now  fairly  upon  the  desert;  sandy 
hills  behind — a  dreary,  desolate  plain  before  us,  far  as 
the  eye  can  reach.  Twelve  miles  from  Cariso  creek 
stopped  to  dig  for  water,  but  in  vain;  thermometer  106° 
in  the  shade. 

"There  appeared  in  the  east  a  cloud,  which  soon 
assumed  that  peculiar  appearance  which  often  precedes 
a  violent  storm.  A  dark  mass  approached,  a  hurricane 
was  upon  us,  and  we  were  enveloped  in  a  cloud  of  sand ; 
the  mules  were  driven  from  their  path,  the  canvas 
covers  were  torn  to  shreds,  and  the  wagons  themselves 
in  danger  of  being  upset.  For  fifteen  minutes  we  were 
blinded,  when  a  torrent  of  rain  quieted  the  dust.  A 
shower  of  hail  succeeded,  and  the  men,  throwing  them- 
selves upon  the  ground,  hid  their  faces  in  the  sand  for 
protection.  There  was  neither  flash  nor  report  of  light- 


66  OUR  UNITED  STATES 

ening  for  an  hour.  It  came  at  length  as  night  was  clos- 
ing in,  to  add  sublimity  to  the  scene.  Pools  and  streams 
of  water  appeared  in  every  direction,  and  spots  upon  the 
parched  desert  which  two  hours  before  seemed  never  to 
have  been  kissed  even  by  a  gentle  dew,  now  afforded 
bucketfuls  of  water  for  the  thirsty  mules. 

"It  was  dark  when  one  of  the  party  returned,  saying 
that  the  road  led  into  a  lake,  which  he  had  been  unable 
to  find  his  way  across.  At  this  time  our  parties  were 
greatly  scattered — some  far  in  advance,  others  far 
behind.  With  us  were  neither  tents  or  provisions ;  to 
encamp  was  hence  impossible.  Thinking  that  the  extent 
of  the  inundation  could  not  be  great,  we  entered  the 
water  and  pushed  onward.  For  a  mile,  at  least,  we 
traversed  this  lake-like  sheet  of  water,  the  mules  wading 
to  their  knees  at  every  step,  and  still  the  chains  of  light- 
ening that  seemed  to  encircle  us  showed,  far  as  the  eye 
could  reach,  nothing  but  water.  Yes,  there  was  one  spot 
of  land  visible — Signal  Mountain,  about  five  miles  dis- 
tant; and  after  a  brief  consultation,  we  turned  towards 
it.  Wandering  about  at  night  in  an  unheard  of  lake,  not 
knowing  in  what  gulf  the  next  step  might  plunge  us, 
would  have  been  sufficiently  romantic  without  the  storm 
which  still  raged  unabated,  the  lightening  which  blinded, 
and  the  thunder  which  stunned  us.  At  length  the  camp 
fire  of  the  advance  party  was  discovered  and  served  as 
a  beacon  to  lead  us  safely  into  port.  The  tired  mules 
loudly  expressed  their  gladness  at  reaching  terra  firma, 
and  finding  twenty-five  miles  from  Cariso  creek,  a  rest- 
ing place  at  camp.  There  is  no  grass  here;  but  a  rank 
growth  of  what  is  called  'careless  weed'  is  very  abund- 
ant. This  affords  little  nutriment;  the  hungry  animals, 
however,  prefer  weeds  to  nothing.  At  11  p.  M.  the  stars 
were  shining  brightly,  and  scarcely  a  cloud  was  to  be 


ARMY  67 

seen.  Lieutenant  Couts,  commander  of  the  escort, 
thinks  that  during  the  storm  he  felt  an  earthquake. 

"September  28. — Left  'Lagoon'  at  4  A.  M.  and  by  the 
aid  of  Venus  whose  light  was  so  strong  as  to  cast  a 
decided  shadow,  we  ascended  a  bank  to  the  upper  desert. 

"We  moved  on  east  over  the  desert,  covered  with 
pebbles  of  jasper  or  deep  drifting  sand,  and  without 
shells,  with  no  green  thing  to  relieve  the  eye  save  the 
larrea  Mexicana,  which  covets  solitude.  Twenty  miles 
brought  us  again  upon  the  steep  sand  bank  which  long 
had  bounded  our  horizon.  We  descended  eighty  to  one 
hundred  feet  into  the  mesquite-covered  canada,  or  val- 
ley, extending  from  this  point,  about  twenty  miles  in 
width,  to  the  Rio  Colorado.  We  pursued  a  northeast 
course,  parallel  to  the  bank  which  bounds  the  desert 
proper,  for  seven  miles,  to  the  'Three  Wells.'  Here 
we  encamped,  twenty-seven  miles  from  the  'Lagoon.' 
The  wells  are  dug  ten  feet  deep,  at  the  bottom  of  a  small 
natural  basin,  which  seems  scooped  from  the  plain. 

"Until  October  1st  we  remained  at  the  lower  crossing 
of  the  Colorado,  waiting  for  a  road  to  be  cut  upon  the 
right  bank,  five  miles  to  the  emigrant  crossing.  Our 
Indian  neighbors  were  very  sociable,  bringing  us  grass, 
beans,  melons,  and  squashes,  for  which  they  received  in 
return  tobacco  or  money. 

"The  basin  of  our  road  along  the  bank  of  the  Colorado 
was  an  Indian  foot  path,  which  wound  around  every  tree 
that  time  had  thrown  across  its  ancient  track,  doubling 
the  true  distance.  Passing  through  a  forest  of  cotton- 
wood  and  willow  we  came  to  the  foot  of  'Pilot  Knob/ 
Here  we  encamped.  'Pilot  Knob'  is  an  isolated  moun- 
tain, and  rises  above  us  to  the  height  of  about  fifteen 
hundred  feet.  We  ascend  the  highest  peak  to  fire 
rockets  for  signals  from  Sierra,  beyond  the  desert. 


68  OUR  UNITED  STATES 

"Tuesday,  October  2,  1849.— Left  the  foot  of  'Pilot 
Knob'  and  travelled  on  through  groves  of  mezquite, 
upon  the  bank  of  the  Colorado.  Not  an  Indian  had  we 
seen  since  leaving  the  village  of  Santjago;  but  Tomaso, 
with  some  alarm,  pointed  out  fresh  foot-prints  in  the 
path  we  followed. 

"In  search  of  the  way  I  soon  found  myself  separated 
from  the  escort  and  alone,  following  a  well  trodden 
path.  Eager  to  reach  my  destination,  I  pushed  on  for 
an  Indian  guide.  At  length  the  winding  path  led  me 
into  a  village  of  the  Yumas.  As  I  rode  to  the  principal 
hut,  without  even  an  interpreter,  I  felt  myself  imprudent 
in  thus  throwing  myself  into  the  power  of  these  savages. 
They  at  once  surrounded  me.  One  with  an  emerald 
pendant  from  his  nose  held  the  bridle  of  my  mule,  some 
played  with  my  pistols,  others  handled  my  sword. 
Seeming  to  put  perfect  confidence  in  their  honesty,  I 
nevertheless  watched  them  narrowly  while  I  endeavoured 
to  explain  in  Spanish  the  object  of  my  visit.  Him  with 
the  jewelled  nose  I  found  to  be  Anton,  a  petty  chief  or 
captain  of  his  village;  he  understood  but  little  Spanish. 
Soon  there  rode  up,  upon  a  spirited  horse,  an  Indian, 
whom  I  found  to  be  a  Comoya  from  San  Felipe,  called 
'Mai  Anton/  and  with  him  I  could  converse.  They 
having  consented  to  guide  me  to  the  mouth  of  the  Rio 
Gila,  I  shook  off  the  curious  men,  women,  and  children 
that  nearly  buried  my  mule,  and  rode  on.  ... 

"Wednesday,  October  3. — To-day  came  Pablo,  grand 
chief  of  the  Yumas,  with  his  scarlet  coat  trimmed  with 
gold  lace,  his  epaulets  of  silver  wire,  and,  to  crown  all, 
green  goggles.  His  legs  and  feet  were  bare,  but  he  did 
not  allow  that  to  detract  from  the  dignity  of  his  man- 
ner. Tomaso  ushered  him  in  and  acted  as  interpreter, 
translating  my  Spanish  into  Indian  for  him,  and  his 


ARMY  69 

Indian  into  Spanish  for  me.  I  explained  to  him  that 
their  territory  now  belonged  to  the  United  States,  that 
the  government  took  an  interest  in  the  welfare  of  those 
Indians  who  were  honest  and  well-disposed ;  that  we 
were  inclined  to  live  in  amity  with  him,  but  were  pre- 
pared to  chastise  those  evilly  inclined.  He  promised 
that  his  people  should  not  steal  from  or  otherwise  injure 
Americans,  and  I  gave  him  those  presents  that  I  had 
prepared.  Having  taken  a  glass  of  aquardiete,  his 
tongue  was  loosed,  his  dignity  was  overcome,  and  he  no 
longer  needed  an  interpreter;  Pablo  spoke  Spanish  bet- 
ter, by  far,  than  I  could. 

"Friday,  October  5,  1849.— To-day  the  Indians  of  the 
Yuma  tribe  held  a  grand  council,  in  honor  of  our  arrival ; 
and,  as  Pablo  Coclum,  the  great  chief  in  epaulets  and 
green  goggles,  had  been  chosen  under  the  Mexican  reign, 
they  determined  to  show  their  adherence  to  the  United 
States  by  deposing  their  old  chief,  and,  in  a  republican 
manner,  electing  a  new  one.  The  successful  candidate 
was  our  old  friend  Santjago,  captain  of  the  band  of  the 
Cuchans  at  the  lower  crossing.  He  seems  a  good,  old 
man,  and  worthy  of  his  honors.  Upon  his  election,  he 
was  escorted  to  my  tent  for  the  customary  presents  and 
promised  good  faith  towards  all  Americans. 

"October  25. — Continued  the  survey  at  the  junction  of 
the  two  rivers.  .  .  .  Both  rivers  are  rapid,  and  their 
junction  forms  a  distinctly  marked  and  nearly  straight 
line,  leading  from  the  east  bank  of  the  Gila  to  the  chan- 
nel of  the  Colorado.  They  unite,  and,  singularly 
enough,  contract  to  one-fifth  the  width  of  the  Colorado 
above,  in  order  to  leap  through  a  narrow  gorge  which 
some  convulsion  of  nature  has  torn  through  an  isolated 
hill.  Upon  this  hill,  eighty  feet  perpendicular  almost 
above  the  water,  stands  our  observatory. 


70  OUR  UNITED  STATES 

"October  30.— This  morning,  at  about  4  o'clock,  there 
was  great  alarm  among  the  Cuchans  (Yumas),  who  live 
upon  the  left  bank  of  the  Colorado.  Our  whole  camp 
was  aroused  by  their  shouting  and  firing.  By  daylight 
they  were  swimming  the  river  in  crowds — men  with  their 
horses  and  women  with  their  children — all  crying  out 
lustily,  'Maricopa!  Maricopa!'  Every  hill  top  was 
crowded  with  armed  warriors,  and  others  were  riding 
hither  and  thither — why  or  wherefore,  none  seemed  to 
know.  At  length  Anton  told  me  that  many  Maricopas 
had  attacked  them,  and  killed  one  Yuma.  By  10  o'clock, 
A.  M.  our  camp  was  deserted  by  the  Indians,  and  for  the 
rest  of  the  day  not  one  has  been  seen.  The  soldiers 
think  the  whole  story  of  Maricopas  a  ruse,  and  appre- 
hend an  attack  to-night.  Lieutenant  Couts  has  in- 
creased the  number  of  sentinels  for  the  night. 

"Friday,  November  23. — Having  been  employed  so 
steadily  in  observing  at  night,  and  computing  all  day, 
my  health  begins  to  suffer,  and  last  night  I  was  too 
nervous  to  sleep;  hence  the  wails  of  the  poor  dog  that 
nightly  howls  the  requiem  of  his  drowned  master  seemed 
more  sad  to  me  than  ever.  When  Captain  Thorne  was 
lost  in  the  Colorado,  some  weeks  since,  a  Mexican  boy 
shared  the  same  fate.  He  left  a  faithful  dog,  which  has 
declined  the  alluring  invitations  of  emigrants  and 
soldiers,  preferring  rather  to  lick  the  ground  his  master 
last  trod  than  accept  the  daintiest  fare  from  a  stranger's 
hand. 

"Saturday,  December  1,  1849. — Having  determined, 
with  all  the  accuracy  which  two  month's  time  would  per- 
mit, the  latitude  (32°  43'  4"  west  of  Greenwich)  of  the 
monument  near  the  junction  of  the  Rio  Gila  with  the 
Colorado,  and  from  thence  measured  85°  34'  2"  west  of 
south,  the  azimuth  of  the  straight  line  of  boundary  lead- 


ARMY  71 

ing  to  the  Pacific  Ocean ;  and  also  having  settled  with  the 
Mexican  commission,  which  arrived  yesterday,  all  ques- 
tions relating  to  the  boundary  at  this  point  from  which 
any  difficulty  would  be  apprehended,  we  left  the  Mexican 
gentlemen  in  charge  of  our  fixtures,  and  turned  towards 
San  Diego." 


CHAPTER  VII 
GOLD  AND  THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  CALIFORNIA 

THE  territory  recently  gained  from  Mexico,  namely, 
California  and  New  Mexico,  was  the  centre  of  military 
protection  following  its  acquisition  and  was  the  chief 
of  domestic  disturbance  between  the  years  1842  and 
1855.  Remote  from  the  seat  of  government,  homoge- 
neous in  population,  the  discovery  of  gold  in  California 
precipitated  a  rush  of  foreign  immigration  from  which 
arose  constant  disorder  and  lawlessness. 

The  conditions  in  San  Francisco  at  this  period  were 
unique  and  romantic.  "The  town  is  built  on  the  south 
bend  of  the  bay,"  says  a  contemporary  writer,  "near  its 
communication  with  the  sea.  Its  site  is  a  succession  of 
barren  sand-hills,  tumbled  up  into  every  variety  of  shape. 
No  leveling  process,  on  a  scale  of  any  magnitude  has 
been  attempted.  The  buildings  roll  up  and  over  these 
sand  ridges  like  a  shoal  of  porpoises  over  the  swell  of  a 
wave,  only  the  fish  has  much  the  most  order  in  the  dis- 
posal of  his  head  and  tail.  More  incongruous  combina- 
tions in  architecture  never  danced  in  the  dreams  of  men 
— brick  warehouses,  wooden  shanties,  sheet-iron  huts, 
and  shaking-tents,  are  blended  in  admirable  confusion. 
But  these  grotesque  habitations  have  as  much  uniformity 
and  sobriety  as  the  habits  of  those  who  occupy  them. 
Hazards  are  made  in  commercial  transactions,  and 
projects  of  speculation  that  would  throw  Wall  Street 

72 


ARMY  73 

into  spasms.  I  have  seen  merchants  purchase  cargoes 
without  having  even  glanced  into  the  invoice.  The  con- 
ditions of  the  sale  were  a  hundred  per  cent,  profits  to  the 
owner  and  costs.  In  one  cargo,  when  tumbled  out,  were 
found  twenty  thousand  dollars  in  the  single  article  of 
red  cotton  handkerchiefs !  'I'll  get  rid  of  these  among 
the  wild  Indians/  said  the  purchaser,  with  a  shrug  of  the 
shoulders.  'I've  a  water  lot  which  I  will  sell/  cries  an- 
other. 'Which  way  does  it  stretch?'  inquire  half  a 
dozen.  'Right  under  the  craft  there/  is  the  reply.  'And 
what  do  you  ask  for  it?'  'Fifteen  thousand  dollars/ 
Til  take  it.'  Then  down  with  the  dust/  So  the  water 
lot,  which  mortal  eyes  never  beheld,  changes  its  owners, 
without  changing  its  fish.  'I  have  two  shares  in  a  gold- 
mine/ cries  another.  'Where  are  they?'  inquire  the 
crowd.  'Under  the  south  branch  of  the  Zuba  River, 
which  we  have  almost  turned/  is  the  reply.  'And  what 
will  you  take?'  'Fifteen  thousand  dollars.'  'I'll  give 
ten.'  'Take  it,  stranger.'  So  the  two  shares  of  a  pos- 
sibility of  gold,  under  a  branch  of  the  Zuba,  where  the 
water  still  rolls,  rapid  and  deep,  are  sold  for  ten  thou- 
sand dollars,  paid  down.  Is  there  anything  in  the  Ara- 
bian Nights  that  surpasses  this?" 

"Three  years  ago,"  he  continues,  "and  San  Francisco 
contained  three  thousand  souls;  now  she  has  a  popula- 
tion of  twenty-seven  thousand.  Then,  a  building  lot 
within  her  limits  cost  fifteen  dollars;  now,  the  same  lot 
cannot  be  purchased  at  a  less  sum  than  fifteen  thousand. 
Then,  her  commerce  was  confined  to  a  few  Indian 
blankets,  and  Mexican  reboses  and  beads ;  now,  from  two 
to  three  hundred  merchant-men  are  unloading  their 
costly  cargoes  on  her  quay.  Then,  the  famished  whaler 
could  hardly  find  a  temporary  relief  in  her  markets; 
now,  she  has  phrenzied  the  world  with  her  wealth. 


74  OUR  UNITED  STATES 

Then,  Benicia  was  a  pasture,  covered  with  lowing  herds ; 
now,  she  is  a  commercial  mart,  threatening  to  rival  her 
sister  nearer  the  sea.  Then  Stockton  and  Sacramento 
City  were  covered  with  wild  oats,  where  the  elk  and  deer 
gamboled  at  will;  now,  they  are  laced  with  streets  and 
walled  with  warehouses  through  which  the  great  tide  of 
commerce  rolls  off  into  a  hundred  mountain  glens. 
Then,  the  banks  of  the  Sacramento  and  San  Joaquin 
were  cheered  only  by  the  curling  smoke  of  the  Indians 
hut;  now,  they  throw  on  the  eye,  at  every  bend,  the 
cheerful  aspect  of  some  new  hamlet  or  town.  Then,  the 
silence  of  the  Sierra  Nevada  was  broken  only  by  the 
voice  of  its  streams ;  now  every  cavern  and  cliff  is  echo- 
ing under  the  blows  of  the  sturdy  miner.  The  wild 
horse,  startled  in  his  glen,  leaves  on  the  hill  the  clatter 
of  his  hoofs,  while  the  huge  bear,  roused  from  his  patri- 
monial jungle,  grimly  retires  to  some  new  mountain- 
fastness. 

"But  I  must  drop  this  contrast  of  the  past  with  the 
present  and  glance  at  a  few  facts  which  affect  the  future. 
The  gold  deposits,  which  have  hitherto  been  discovered, 
are  confined,  mainly,  to  the  banks  and  beds  of  perpetual 
streams,  or  the  bottoms  of  ravines,  through  which  roll 
the  waters  of  the  transient  freshet.  These  deposits  are 
the  natural  results  of  the  law  of  gravitation;  the  treas- 
ures which  they  contain  must  have  been  washed  from  the 
slopes  of  the  surrounding  hills.  The  elevations,  like 
spendthrifts,  seem  to  have  parted  entirely  with  their 
golden  inheritance,  except  what  may  linger  still  in  the 
quartz.  And  these  gold-containing  quartz  will  be  found 
to  have  their  confined  localities;  they  will  crown  the 
insular  peaks  of  a  mountain-ridge,  or  fret  the  verge  of 
some  extinguished  volcano;  they  have  never  been  found 
in  a  continuous  range,  except  in  the  dreams  of  enchant- 


ARMY  75 

ment;  you  might  as  well  look  for  a  wall  of  diamonds  or 
a  solid  bank  of  pearls.  Nature  has  played  off  many  a 
prodigal  caprice  in  California,  but  a  mountain  of  gold  is 
not  one  of  them.  The  alluvial  gold  will  at  no  distant 
day  be  measurably  exhausted,  and  the  miners  be  driven 
into  the  mountains.  Here,  the  work  can  be  successfully 
prosecuted  only  by  companies,  with  heavy  capitals.  All 
the  uncertainties  which  are  connected  with  mining  opera- 
tions, will  gather  around  these  enterprises.  Wealth  will 
reward  the  labors  of  the  few,  whose  success  was  mainly 
the  result  of  good  fortune,  while  disappointment  will 
attend  the  efforts  of  the  many,  equally  skilful  and  per- 
severing. These  wide  inequalities  in  the  proceeds  of  the 
miner's  labor,  have  exhibited  themselves,  wherever  a 
gold  deposit  has  been  hunted  or  found  in  California. 
The  past  is  a  reliable  prophecy  of  the  future. 

"Not  one  in  ten  thousand  who  have  gone,  or  may  go 
to  California  to  hunt  for  gold,  will  return  with  a  fortune ; 
still  the  great  tide  for  emigration  will  set  there,  till  her 
valleys  and  mountain-glens  teem  with  a  hardy  enterpris- 
ing population.  As  the  gold  deposits  diminish  or 
become  more  difficult  of  access,  the  quicksilver  mines 
will  call  forth  their  unflagging  energies.  This  metal 
slumbers  in  her  mountain  spurs  in  massive  richness ;  the 
process  is  simple  which  converts  it  into  that  form, 
through  which  the  mechanic  arts  subserve  the  thousand 
purposes  of  science  and  social  refinement,  while  the  med- 
ical profession,  through  its  strange  abuse,  keep  up  a  Car- 
nival in  the  Court  of  Death ;  but  for  this,  they  who  mine 
the  ore  are  not  responsible — they  will  find  their  reward 
in  the  wealth  which  will  follow  their  labors.  It  will  be 
in  their  power  to  silence  the  hammers  of  those  mines 
which  have  hitherto  monopolized  the  markets  of  the 
world,  But  the  enterprise  and  wealth  of  California  are 


76  OUR  UNITED  STATES 

not  confined  to  her  mines.  Her  ample  forests  of  oak, 
redwood  and  pine,  only  wait  the  requisite  machinery  to 
convert  them  into  elegant  residences  and  strong-ribbed 
ships.  Her  exhaustive  quarries  of  granite  and  marble 
will  yet  pillar  the  domes  of  metropolitan  splendor  and 
pride.  The  hammer  and  drill  will  be  relinquished  by 
multitudes  for  the  plough  and  sickle.  Her  arable  land, 
stretching  through  her  spacious  valleys,  and  along  the 
broad  banks  of  her  rivers,  will  wave  the  golden  harvest ; 
the  rain-cloud  may  not  visit  her  in  the  summer  months, 
but  the  mountain  stream  will  be  induced  to  throw  its 
showers  over  her  thirsty  plains. 

"Such  was  California  a  few  years  since — such  is  she 
now,  and  such  will  she  become  even  before  they  who  now 
rush  to  her  shores,  find  their  footsteps  within  the 
shadows  of  the  pale  realm." 

Vivid  as  is  this  picture  of  the  newly  acquired  domain, 
real  as  were  the  problems  confronting  the  territories 
described,  and  grave  as  were  the  responsibilities  upon 
the  Federal  Government  to  insure  protection  and  order 
upon  boundary  and  frontier  to  the  settler  and  home 
builder,  the  Army  of  the  United  States  was  cut  down 
by  act  of  Congress  August  14,  1848,  from  a  force  of 
30,865  to  10,317  who  continued  to  guard  the  frontier 
and  coast  and  garrison  from  sixty  to  seventy-five  posts 
for  seven  years.  By  act  of  Congress  March  3,  1855, 
this  inconsiderable  number  was  increased  to  12,698,  at 
which  figure  they  remained  until  the  outbreak  of  the 
Civil  War. 


CHAPTER  VIII 
TROUBLE  IN  KANSAS  AND  THE  MORMON  PROBLEM 

THE  Territories  of  Kansas  and  Nebraska  were  created 
by  act  of  Congress,  May  31,  1854.  The  momentous 
problem  whether  slavery  should  be  tolerated  or  not  was 
left  for  solution  to  the  inhabitants  of  this  vast  area  of 
new  country.  The  stream  of  settlers  who  flocked  to 
these  new  fields  of  enterprise  in  almost  equal  numbers 
from  New  England  and  the  South  were  rapidly  divided 
in  political  principles  and  prejudice.  Mr.  A.  H.  Reeder 
was  appointed  the  governor  of  the  Territory  of  Kansas. 

The  first  election  for  the  Territorial  legislature 
occurred  at  Shawnee  Mission,  near  the  Missouri  line, 
in  March,  1855,  and  resulted  in  a  pro-slavery  majority. 
Most  of  the  laws  enacted  by  this  assembly  were  vetoed 
by  the  Governor  and  immediately  passed  over  his  veto. 
In  August  of  the  next  year  he  was  removed  from  office, 
his  successor  being  Mr.  Wilson  Shannon  of  Ohio. 

The  anti-slavery  citizens  not  deigning  to  acknowledge 
the  authority  of  the  new  executive,  assembled  in  Octo- 
ber, at  Topeka,  organized  another  constitution  making 
Kansas  a  free  labor  State  and  proposed  that  it  should 
be  at  once  admitted  to  the  Union.  Such  a  pre-emptory 
measure  aroused  the  bitterest  partisan  hatred  and  im- 
mediately the  seriousness  of  the  situation  was  evidenced 
by  vandalism  and  personal  violence.  Men  went  about 
armed,  women  and  children  were  driven  out  of  the  terri- 

77 


78  OUR  UNITED  STATES 

tory,  secretly  organized  military  companies  released  pris- 
oners, burned  crops,  killed  cattle  and  performed  in  a 
most  lawless  and  outrageous  manner. 

In  December,  1855,  Governor  Shannon  informed  the 
President  of  the  gravity  of  the  situation  and  requested 
military  aid  from  the  United  States,  to  which  President 
Pierce  promptly  responded:  "All  the  power  in  the 
Executive  will  be  exerted  to  preserve  order  and  en- 
force the  laws." 

The  situation  grew  more  grave  before  the  end  of  Jan- 
uary, 1856,  and  President  Pierce  being  informed  of  a 
band  of  armed  Missourians  about  to  enter  Kansas 
for  the  avowed  purpose  of  burning  and  sacking  the 
homes  of  the  free  labor  citizens,  he  issued  a  proclama- 
tion in  which  he  commanded  "all  persons  engaged  in 
unlawful  combinations  against  authority  of  the  Territory 
of  Kansas  or  of  the  United  States  to  disperse  and  retire 
peaceably  to  their  respective  abodes,  and  to  warn  all  such 
persons  that  any  attempted  insurrections  in  said  Terri- 
tory or  aggressive  intrusion  into  the  same  will  be  resisted 
not  only  by  the  employment  of  the  local  militia,  but  also 
by  that  of  any  available  forces  of  the  United  States" 
and  "If,  in  any  part  of  the  Union,  the  fury  of  faction  or 
fanaticism,  inflamed  into  disregard  of  the  great  principles 
of  popular  sovereignty,  which,  under  the  Constitution, 
are  fundamental  in  the  whole  structure  of  our  institu- 
tions, is  to  bring  on  the  country  the  dire  calamity  of  an 
arbitrament  of  arms  in  that  Territory,  it  shall  be  between 
lawless  violence  on  the  one  side  and  conservative  force 
on  the  other,  wielded  by  legal  authority  of  the  General 
Government." 

Following  this  statement  with  instructions  through  the 
Secretary  of  War  to  Colonel  Sumner  at  Fort  Leaven- 
worth,  and  to  Colonel  Cooke  at  Fort  Riley  that  upon  the 


ARMY  79 

requisition  of  the  Governor  aid  should  be  promptly  ren- 
dered, the  Secretary  concluded  in  these  words : 

"You  will  exercise  much  caution  to  avoid,  if  possible, 
collision  with  even  insurgent  citizens,  and  will  endeavor 
to  suppress  resistance  to  the  law  and  constituted  authori- 
ties by  that  moral  force  which,  happily,  in  our  country, 
is  ordinarily  sufficient  to  secure  respect  to  the  laws  of  the 
land  and  the  regularly  constituted  authorities  of  the 
Government.  You  will  use  a  sound  discretion,  as  to  the 
moment  at  which  the  further  employment  of  the  mili- 
tary force  may  be  discontinued  and  avail  yourself  of  the 
first  opportunity  to  return  with  your  command  to  the 
more  grateful  and  prouder  service  of  the  soldier,  that 
of  common  defense." 

A  number  of  Missourians  armed  and  enroled  as  a 
posse  of  the  United  States  Marshal  centered  in  the 
neighborhood  of  Lawrence,  where  on  the  21st  of  April 
the  Marshal  and  several  hundred  rioters  burned  and 
plundered  a  large  number  of  houses.  At  Osawatomie 
five  men  were  killed,  and  shortly  after  another  was  killed 
at  Black  Jack.  Not  satisfied  with  the  methods  pursued 
by  Governor  Shannon  and  convinced  of  his  inability  to 
restore  order,  the  President  removed  him  from  office  and 
appointed  John  W.  Geary  of  Pennsylvania,  who  arrived 
at  Fort  Leavenworth  on  the  9th  of  September. 

He  proceeded  at  once  to  disband  the  volunteer  militia 
whose  partisan  attitude  made  them  more  than  useless  and 
directed  the  enrolment  of  a  militia,  meanwhile  ordering 
all  armed  bodies  to  leave  at  once.  Little  heed  was  given 
to  these  orders  and  the  pro-slavery  Missourians  pro- 
ceeded to  organize  themselves  into  armed  bodies  and 
march  upon  Lawrence. 

Without  further  delay,  Governor  Geary  asked  for  the 
aid  of  the  Federal  troops  at  Fort  Riley  who  under 


80  OUR  UNITED  STATES 

Colonel  Cooke  proceeded  at  once  to  Lawrence  accom- 
panied by  the  Governor.  The  so-called  "Territorial 
Militia"  gathered  at  this  point  were  in  command  of  Mis- 
sourians.  After  considerable  parleying  they  were  per- 
suaded to  disband.  A  number  of  other  calls  for  Federal 
assistance  were  exacted  during  the  following  months. 
Gradually  quiet  was  restored  and  the  peaceful  avoca- 
tions of  the  citizens  of  Kansas  were  resumed  until  1857, 
when  great  excitement  was  engendered  by  the  bill  in 
Congress  for  the  admission  of  the  Territory  of  Kansas 
into  statehood  under  the  Topeka  constitution.  The  dis- 
turbances were  again  revived,  centering  in  Lawrence, 
which  became  the  headquarters  of  a  dangerous  rebellion. 

Governor  Robert  J.  Walker  of  Michigan,  had  suc- 
ceeded Governor  Geary  under  the  Buchanan  administra- 
tion; he  called  upon  General  Harney  "to  act  as  posse 
comitatus  in  aid  of  the  civil  authorities."  Lieutenant 
Colonel  Cooke,  with  seven  companies  of  First  Dragoons 
was  sent  to  the  scene  of  disturbance. 

The  elections  of  the  autumn  passed  off  without  dis- 
order, but  the  administration  felt  it  imperative  to  keep  a 
considerable  force  of  Federal  troops  prepared  to  act  at 
any  moment  should  riots  or  disorders  become  prevalent. 
Though  partisan  feeling  was  not  quieted  until  January 
29,  1861,  when  Kansas  was  finally  admitted  to  the  Union, 
the  presence  of  Federal  authority,  within  the  limits  of 
the  territory,  prevented  insurrection  and  bloodshed. 

In  the  latter  part  of  July,  1847,  Brigham  Young  with 
a  company  of  followers,  had  reached  Utah  and  estab- 
lished the  first  "stakes"  for  the  great  body  of  the  saints 
which  arrived  in  the  fall  of  1848. 

The  following  year  a  convention  was  held  at  Great 
Salt  Lake  City  for  the  organization  of  a  State  to  be 
called  "Deseret"  meaning  "the  land  of  the  honey  bee." 


ARMY  81 

Congress  refused  to  accept  the  Deseret  constitution,  but 
recognizing  the  necessity  of  local  government  in  this  far 
away  country,  proceeded  to  organize  it  into  the  territory 
of  Utah,  and  President  Filmore  appointed  Brigham 
Young  its  governor.  Immediately  trouble  arose  between 
the  prophet  and  the  Federal  authorities.  Gentile  judges 
appointed  to  hold  office  in  the  new  territory  were  driven 
from  the  state. 

The  troubles  in  Kansas  and  the  prevailing  excitement 
incident  to  the  slavery  question  had  made  the  Federal 
government  more  or  less  indifferent  to  the  situation  in 
Utah.  Nevertheless,  outrages  of  both  public  and  private 
character  became  so  frequent  that  in  the  Spring  of  1857, 
President  Buchanan  summarily  removed  Brigham 
Young  and  appointed  Alfred  Cumming,  then  superin- 
tendent of  Indian  Affairs  on  the  Upper  Missouri,  Gov- 
ernor of  the  territory,  and  Judge  Eckles  of  Indiana, 
Chief  Justice ;  other  gentlemen  were  appointed  to  fill  the 
offices  left  vacant  by  those  Federal  officers  who  had  been 
obliged  to  leave,  and  the  President  ordered  a  military 
force  to  accompany  these  officers  to  Utah  and  to  aid  as 
a  posse  comitatus. 

In  his  first  annual  message  to  Congress,  December  8, 
1857,  President  Buchanan  informed  Congress  ofl  his 
action ;  he  said  in  part : 

"The  people  of  Utah  almost  exclusively  belong  to  this 
(Mormon)  church,  and,  believing  with  a  fanatical  spirit 
that  he  (Young)  is  Governor  of  the  Territory  by  divine 
appointment,  they  obey  his  commands  as  if  they  were 
direct  revelations  from  Heaven.  If,  therefore,  he 
chooses  that  his  government  shall  come  into  collisions 
with  the  government  of  the  United  States,  the  members 
of  the  Mormon  church  will  yield  implicit  obedience  to 
his  will.  Unfortunately,  existing  facts  leave  but  little 


82  OUR  UNITED  STATES 

doubt  that  such  is  his  determination.  Without  entering 
upon  a  minute  history  of  occurrences,  it  is  sufficient  to 
say  that  all  the  officers  of  the  United  States,  judicial  and 
executive,  with  the  single  exception  of  two  Indian 
agents,  have  found  it  necessary  for  their  own  safety  to 
withdraw  from  the  territory,  and  there  no  longer  re- 
mained any  government  in  Utah  but  the  despotism  of 
Brigham  Young.  This  being  the  condition  of  affairs  in 
the  Territory,  I  could  not  mistake  the  path  of  duty. 
As  chief  magistrate  I  was  bound  to  restore  the  suprem- 
acy of  the  constitution  and  laws  within  its  limits.  In 
order  to  effect  this  purpose,  I  appointed  a  new  governor 
and  other  Federal  officers  for  Utah,  and  sent  with  them  a 
military  force  for  their  protection,  and  to  aid  as  a  posse 
comitatus  in  case  of  need  in  the  execution  of  the  laws. 

"With  the  religion  of  the  Mormons,  as  long  as  it 
remained  mere  opinion,  however  deplorable  and  revolt- 
ing to  the  moral  and  religious  sentiments  of  all  Christen- 
dom, I  have  no  right  to  interfere.  Actions  alone,  when 
in  violation  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States, 
become  the  legitimate  subjects  for  the  civil  magistrate. 
My  instructions  to  Governor  Cumming  have,  therefore, 
been  framed  in  strict  accordance  with  these  principles." 

General  Scott  upon  being  consulted  had  advised  a 
delay  of  the  expedition  until  the  following  Spring.  Gen- 
eral Harney  was  assigned  to  the  command.  Immediate 
preparations  for  the  expedition  were  set  in  motion  at 
Fort  Leavenworth.  The  military  force  gathered  at 
Leavenworth  numbered  about  2,500  officers  and  men, 
including  the  Second  Regiment  of  Dragoons,  the  Fifth 
and  Tenth  regiments  of  infantry  and  Phelps's  battery  of 
eight  artillery.  The  line  of  march  was  the  emigrant 
road  across  the  Plains  first  broken  by  the  Indians,  to  be 
followed  by  the  trappers  and  voyageurs,  and  subsequently 


ARMY  83 

explored  by  Lieutenant  Colonel  Fremont,  the  most 
remarkable  natural  road  in  the  world. 

"Throughout  this  vast  line  of  road,  the  only  white 
inhabitants  are  the  garrisons  of  the  military  posts,  the 
keepers  of  mail  stations,  and  voyageurs  and  mountaineers, 
whose  cabins  may  be  found  in  every  locality  favourable 
to  Indian  trade.  These  are  a  singular  race  of  men,  fast 
disappearing,  like  the  Indian  and  the  buffalo,  their  neigh- 
bours. Most  of  them  are  of  French  extraction,  and  some 
have  died  without  having  learned  to  speak  a  word  of 
English.  Their  wealth  consists  in  cattle  and  horses,  and 
little  stocks  of  goods  which  they  purchase  from  the  set- 
tlers at  the  forts  or  the  merchants  at  Salt  Lake  City. 
Some  of  the  more  considerable  among  them  have  the 
means  of  sending  to  the  States  for  an  annual  supply  of 
blankets,  beads,  vermillion,  and  other  stuff  for  Indian 
traffic;  but  the  most  are  thriftless,  and  all  are  living  in 
concubinage  or  marriage  with  squaws,  and  surrounded 
by  troops  of  unwashed,  screeching  half-breeds.  Once  in 
from  three  to  six  years,  they  will  make  a  journey  to  St. 
Louis,  and  gamble  away  so  much  of  their  savings  since 
the  last  visit  as  has  escaped  being  wasted  over  greasy 
card-tables  during  the  long  winter  evenings  among  the 
mountains.  The  Indian  tribes  along  the  way  are  numer- 
ous and  formidable,  the  road  passing  through  country 
occupied  by  Pawnees,  Cheyennes,  Sioux,  Arapahoes, 
Crows,  Snakes,  and  Utahs.  With  the  Cheyennes  war 
had  been  waged  by  the  United  States  for  more  than 
two  years,  which  interfered  seriously  with  the  expedition ; 
for,  during  the  month  of  June,  a  war  party  from  that 
tribe  intercepted  and  dispersed  the  herd  of  beef  cattle 
intended  for  the  use  of  the  army. 

''The  characteristics  of  the  entire  route  are  as  unprom- 
ising as  those  of  its  inhabitants.  At  the  distance  of  about 


84  OUR  UNITED  STATES 

two  hundred  miles  from  the  Missouri  frontier  the  soil 
becomes  so  pervaded  by  sand,  that  only  scientific  agricul- 
ture can  render  it  available.  Along  the  Platte  there  is 
no  fuel.  Not  a  tree  is  visible,  except  the  thin  fringe 
of  cottonwoods  on  the  margin  of  the  river,  all  of  which, 
upon  the  south  bank,  where  the  road  runs,  were  hewed 
down  and  burned  at  every  convenient  camp,  during  the 
great  California  emigration.  When  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains are  entered,  the  only  vegetation  found  is  bunch- 
grass,  so  called  because  it  grows  in  tufts, — and  the 
artemisia,  or  wild  sage,  an  odorous  shrub,  which  some- 
times attains  the  magnitude  of  a  tree,  with  a  fibrous 
trunk  as  thick  as  a  man's  thigh,  but  is  ordinarily  a  bush 
about  two  feet  in  height.  The  bunch-grass,  grown  at 
such  an  elevation,  possesses  extraordinary  nutritive  prop- 
erties, even  in  midwinter.  About  the  middle  of  January 
a  new  growth  is  developed  underneath  the  snow,  forcing 
off  the  old  dry  blade  that  ripened  and  shed  the  seed  the 
previous  summer.  From  Fort  Kearny  to  Fort  Laramie, 
almost  the  only  fuel  to  be  obtained  is  the  dung  of  buffalo 
and  oxen,  called,  in  the  vocabulary  of  the  region,  'chips/ 
— the  argal  of  the  Tartar  deserts.  Among  the  moun- 
tains the  sage  is  the  chief  material  of  the  travellers'  fire. 
It  burns  with  a  lively,  ruddy  flame,  and  gives  out  an 
intense  heat.  In  the  settlements  of  Utah  all  the  wood 
consumed  is  hauled  from  the  canons,  which  are  usually 
lined  with  pines,  firs,  and  cedars,  while  the  broadsides  of 
the  mountains  are  nothing  but  terraces  of  volcanic  rock. 
The  price  of  wood  in  Salt  Lake  City  is  from  twelve  to 
twenty  dollars  a  cord. 

"From  this  brief  review  of  the  natural  features  of  the 
country,  some  idea  may  be  formed  of  the  intensity  of  the 
religious  enthusiasm  which  has  induced  fifty  thousand 
Mormon  converts  to  traverse  it, — many  of  them  on  foot 


ARMY  85 

and  trundling  hand  carts, — to  seek  a  home  among  the 
valleys  of  Utah,  in  a  region  hardly  more  propitious ;  and 
some  idea,  also,  of  the  difficulties  which  were  to  attend 
the  march  of  the  army." 

Captain  Stewart  Van  Vliet,  of  General  Harney's  staff, 
had  preceded  the  advance  of  the  troops,  having  left  Fort 
Leavenworth,  July  28,  for  the  purpose  of  visiting  Salt 
Lake  City,  to  arrange  for  the  purchase  of  forage  and 
lumber,  interview  Brigham  Young,  ascertain  the  dispo- 
sition of  the  Mormon  church  and  the  citizens  of  Utah 
toward  the  Government  of  the  United  States  and  assure 
the  Mormons  that  the  approaching  Utah  expedition 
would  not  molest  or  interfere  with  them.  Captain  Van 
Vliet  reached  his  destination  in  thirty-three  and  a  half 
days.  When  about  thirty  miles  west  of  Green  River  he 
was  met  by  a  party  of  Mormons  who  escorted  him  accom- 
panied only  by  his  servant  to  Salt  Lake  City.  He  was 
treated  with  politeness  by  Brigham  Young  and  other 
officials  who  called  at  his  quarters  the  night  of  his  arrival. 
Captain  Van  Vliet  informed  these  gentlemen  of  his  mis- 
sion and  was  informed  in  turn  that  the  Mormon  people 
were  determined  to  resist  the  advance  of  the  troops. 
When  told  that  resistance  to  Federal  authority  would  be 
useless  and  that  the  small  army  now  on  its  way  would 
certainly  be  re-enforced  by  a  larger  one  capable  of  over- 
coming such  violent  opposition,  Brigham  replied:  "We 
are  aware  that  such  will  be  the  case;  but  when  these 
troops  arrive  they  will  find  Utah  a  desert,  every  house 
will  be  burned  to  the  ground,  every  tree  cut  down,  and 
every  field  laid  waste.  We  have  three  years'  provisions 
on  hand,  which  we  will  cache,  and  then  take  to  the  moun- 
tains and  bid  defiance  to  all  the  powers  of  the  govern- 
ment." 

At  a  church  service  the  following  Sabbath,  at  which 


86  OUR  UNITED  STATES 

Captain  Van  Vliet  was  present,  the  congregation  num- 
bering more  than  four  thousand,  when  asked  how  many 
would  willingly  apply  the  torch  to  their  dwellings  and 
lay  waste  their  farms  in  defiance  of  the  army,  every 
hand  was  raised.  Brigham  Young  in  his  sermon  on  that 
day  voiced  the  attitude  of  his  followers  in  the  following 
words : 

"Before  I  will  suffer,  as  I  have  in  times  gone  by,  there 
shall  not  one  building,  nor  one  foot  of  lumber,  nor  a 
fence,  nor  a  tree,  nor  a  particle  of  grass  or  hay,  that  will 
burn,  be  left  in  reach  of  our  enemies.  I  am  sworn,  if 
driven  to  extremity,  to  utterly  lay  waste  this  land  in  the 
name  of  Israel's  God,  and  our  enemies  shall  find  it  as 
barren  as  when  we  came  here." 

Upon  the  departure  of  Captain  Van  Vliet,  Brigham 
Young  issued  to  the  citizens  of  Utah  a  proclamation  in 
open  defiance  of  the  Government  of  the  United  States, 
beginning : 

"We  are  invaded  by  a  hostile  force  who  are  evidently 
assailing  us  to  accomplish  our  overthrow  and  destruc- 
tion." 

After  stating  the  supposed  wrongs  and  injustice  suf- 
fered by  the  Mormons  at  the  hands  of  the  government 
and  the  unreasonableness  of  the  government's  present 
position,  the  proclamation  concludes : 

"The  issue  which  has  thus  been  forced  upon  us  com- 
pels us  to  resort  to  the  first  law  of  self-preservation,  and 
stand  in  our  own  defence,  a  right  guaranteed  to  us  by 
the  genius  of  the  constitutions  of  our  country,  and  upon 
which  the  government  is  based.  Our  duty  to  ourselves, 
to  our  families,  requires  us  not  to  tamely  submit  to  be 
driven  and  slain,  without  an  attempt  to  preserve  our- 
selves; our  duty  to  our  country,  our  holy  religion,  our 
God,  to  freedom  and  liberty,  requires  that  we  should  not 


ARMY  87 

quietly  stand  still  and  see  those  fetters  forging  around 
which  were  calculated  to  enslave  and  bring  us  in  subjec- 
tion to  an  unlawful  military  despotism,  such  as  can  only 
emanate,  in  a  country  of  constitutional  law,  from  usurpa- 
tion, tyranny,  and  oppression. 

"Therefore,  I,  Brigham  Young,  Governor  and  Super- 
intendent of  Indian  Affairs  for  the  Territory  of  Utah,  in 
the  name  of  the  people  of  the  United  States  in  the  Terri- 
tory of  Utah,  forbid: 

"First:  All  armed  forces  of  every  description  from 
coming  into  this  Territory,  under  any  pretense  whatever. 

"Second :  That  all  forces  in  said  Territory  hold  them- 
selves in  readiness  to  march  at  a  moment's  notice  to  repel 
any  and  all  such  invasions. 

"Third:  Martial  law  is  hereby  declared  to  exist  in 
this  Territory  from  and  after  the  publication  of  this 
proclamation,  and  no  person  shall  be  allowed  to  pass  or 
repass  into  or  through  or  from  this  Territory  without  a 
permit  from  the  proper  officer. 

"Given  under  my  hand  and  seal,  at  Great  Salt  Lake 
City,  Territory  of  Utah,  this  15th  day  of  September, 
A.  D.  1857,  and  of  the  independence  of  the  United 
States  of  America  the  eighty-second. 

BRIGHAM  YOUNG." 

The  first  intimation  of  the  condition  of  affairs  received 
by  the  head  of  the  column  which  had  left  Fort  Leaven- 
worth,  July  18th,  was  reported  by  Captain  Van  Vliet 
while  passing  eastward — other  battalions  were  following 
closely  and  on  the  28th  of  September  arrived  at  Camp 
Winfield  about  30  miles  distant  from  Salt  Lake  City. 
Brigham  Young  at  once  despatched  his  officers  bearing 
his  proclamation  and  a  letter  directed  to  Colonel  John- 
ston, ordering  him  to  retrace  his  steps  and  leave  the  terri- 


88  OUR  UNITED  STATES 

tory  by  the  route  he  had  entered  or  be  permitted  to 
remain  within  the  territory  until  Spring  upon  surrender- 
ing his  arms  and  ammunition  to  the  quartermaster  gen- 
eral of  the  territory.  Colonel  Alexander  in  command  of 
the  advance  replied  briefly  stating  his  troops  were  there 
"by  the  orders  of  the  President  of  the  United  States,  and 
their  future  movements  and  operations  will  depend 
entirely  upon  orders  issued  by  competent  military  author- 
ity." 

Governor  Young  replied  by  sending  his  henchmen  to 
intercept  and  destroy  the  supply  trains  destined  for  the 
United  States  army. 

"On  the  night  of  October  5th,  after  the  last  division 
had  crossed  the  river,  two  supply  trains,  of  twenty-five 
wagons  each,  were  captured  and  burned  just  on  the  bank 
of  the  stream,  by  a  party  of  mounted  Mormons  led  by  a 
man  named  Lot  Smith,  and  the  next  morning  another 
party,  twenty  miles  farther  east,  on  the  Big  Sandy,  in 
Oregon  Territory.  The  teamsters  were  disarmed  and 
dismissed,  and  the  cattle  stolen.  No  blood  was  shed; 
not  a  shot  fired.  Immediately  upon  the  news  of  this 
attack  reaching  Ham's  Fork,  Colonel  Alexander,  who  had 
then  assumed  the  command-in-chief,  despatched  Captain 
Marcy,  of  the  Fifth  Infantry,  with  four  hundred  men,  to 
afford  assistance  to  the  trains,  and  punish  the  aggressors, 
if  possible.  But  when  the  Captain  reached  Green  River, 
all  that  was  visible  near  the  little  French  trading-post 
was  two  broad,  black  rings  on  the  ground,  bestrewn  with 
iron  chains  and  bolts,  where  the  wagons  had  been  burned 
in  corral.  He  was  able  to  do  nothing  except  to  send 
orders  to  the  other  trains  on  the  road  to  halt,  concentrate, 
and  await  the  escort  of  Brevet  Colonel  Smith,  of  the 
Tenth  Infantry,  who  had  started  from  the  frontier  in 
August  with  the  two  companies  mentioned  as  having 


ARMY  89 

been  left  behind  in  Minnesota,  and  by  rapid  marches  had 
already  reached  the  Sweetwater.  The  condition  of 
affairs  at  this  moment  was  indeed  critical.  By  the  folly 
of  Governor  Walker's  movements  in  Kansas  the  expedi- 
tion was  deprived  of  its  mounted  force,  and  consisted 
entirely  of  infantry  and  artillery.  The  Mormon  maraud- 
ing parties,  on  the  contrary,  which  it  now  became  evident 
were  hovering  on  every  side,  were  all  well  mounted  and 
tolerably  well  armed.  The  loss  of  three  trains  more 
would  reduce  the  troops  to  the  verge  of  starvation  before 
Spring  in  case  of  inability  to  reach  Salt  Lake  Valley. 

"In  his  perplexity,  Colonel  Alexander  called  a  council 
of  war,  and,  with  its  approval,  resolved  to  commence  a 
march  towards  Soda  Springs,  leaving  Fort  Bridger  unmo- 
lested on  his  left.  For  more  than  a  fortnight  the  army 
toiled  along  Ham's  Fork,  cutting  a  road  through  thickets 
of  greasewood  and  wild  sage,  encumbered  by  a  train  of 
such  unwieldy  length  that  often  the  advance  guard 
reached  its  camp  at  night  before  the  rear  guard  had  moved 
from  the  camp  of  the  preceding  day,  and  harassed  by 
Mormon  marauding  parties  from  the  Fort,  which  hung 
about  the  flanks  out  of  reach  of  rifle  shot,  awaiting  oppor- 
tunities to  descend  on  unprotected  wagons  and  cattle. 
The  absence  of  dragoons  prevented  a  dispersion  of  these 
banditti.  Some  companies  of  infantry  were,  indeed, 
mounted  on  mules,  and  sent  to  pursue  them,  but  these 
only  excited  their  derision.  The  Mormons  nicknamed 
them  'Jackass  cavalry.'  Their  only  exploit  was  the  cap- 
ture of  a  Mormon  major  and  his  adjutant,  on  whose 
person  were  found  orders  by  D.  H.  Wells,  the  command- 
ing General  of  the  Legion,  to  the  various 

detachments  of  marauders,  directing  them  to  burn  the 
whole  country  before  the  army  and  on  its  flanks,  to  keep 
it  from  sleep  by  night  surprises,  to  stampede  its  animals 


90  OUR  UNITED  STATES 

and  set  fire  to  its  trains,  to  blockade  the  road  by  felling 
and  destroying  river-fords,  but  to  take  no  life.  On  the 
13th  of  October,  eight  hundred  oxen  were  cut  off  from 
the  rear  of  the  army  and  driven  to  Salt  Lake  Valley. 
Thus  the  weary  column  toiled  along  until  it  reached  the 
spot  where  it  expected  to  be  joined  by  Colonel  Smith's 
battalion,  about  fifty  miles  up  Ham's  Fork.  The  very 
next  day  snow  fell  to  the  depth  of  more  than  a  foot." 

On  November  4th,  Colonel  Albert  Sidney  Johnston 
reached  the  place  of  rendezvous  with  reinforcements  of 
cavalry  and  supply  trains  in  charge  of  Colonel  Smith. 
The  expedition  was  ordered  to  Fort  Bridger,  distant  thir- 
ty-five miles,  where  Johnston  proposed  to  establish  Win- 
ter quarters.  On  the  6th  of  November  the  advance 
towards  that  post  was  commenced. 

"The  day  was  memorable  in  the  history  of  the  expedi- 
tion. Sleet  poured  down  upon  the  column  from  morn- 
ing till  night.  On  the  previous  evening,  five  hundred 
cattle  had  been  stampeded  by  the  Mormons,  in  conse- 
quence of  which  some  trains  were  unable  to  move  at  all. 
After  struggling  along  till  nightfall,  the  regiments  camped 
wherever  they  could  find  shelter  under  bluffs  or  among 
willows.  That  night  more  than  five  hundred  animals 
perished  from  hunger  and  cold  and  the  next  morning 
the  camp  was  encircled  by  their  carcasses,  coated  with  a 
film  of  ice.  It  was  a  scene  which  could  be  paralleled 
only  in  the  retreat  of  the  French  from  Moscow.  Had 
there  been  any  doubt  before  concerning  the  practicability 
of  an  immediate  advance  beyond  Fort  Bridger,  none 
existed  any  longer.  It  was  the  16th  of  November  when 
the  vanguard  reached  that  post,  which  the  Mormons  had 
abandoned  the  week  before.  Nearly  a  fortnight  had  been 
consumed  in  accomplishing  less  than  thirty  miles. 

"It  is  time  to  return  to  the  States  and  record  what  had 


ARMY  91 

been  transpiring  there,  in  connection  with  the  expedition, 
while  the  army  was  staggering  towards  its  permanent 
Winter  camp. 

"The  only  one  of  the  newly  appointed  civil  officials  who 
was  present  with  the  troops  was  Judge  Eckels,  who  had 
left  his  home  in  Indiana  immediately  after  receiving  his 
appointment,  and  started  across  the  Plains  with  his  own 
conveyance.  Near  Fort  Laramie  he  was  overtaken  by 
Colonel  Smith,  whom  he  accompanied  in  his  progress 
to  the  main  body.  Governor  Cummings,  in  the  mean- 
while, dilly-dallied  in  the  East,  travelling  from  St.  Louis 
to  Washington  and  back  again,  begging  for  an  increase 
of  salary,  for  a  sum  of  money  to  be  placed  at  his  disposal 
for  secret  service,  and  for  transportation  to  the  Territory, 
— all  which  requests,  except  the  last,  were  denied. 
Towards  the  close  of  September,  he  arrived  at  Fort 
Leavenworth.  Governor  Walker  had  by  this  time, 
released  his  hold  on  the  Dragoons,  and,  notwithstanding 
the  advanced  period  of  the  season,  they  were  preparing 
to  march  to  Utah.  The  Governor  and  most  of  the  other 
civil  officers  delayed  until  they  started,  and  travelled  in 
their  company.  The  march  was  attended  with  the  sever- 
est hardships.  When  they  reached  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains, the  snow  lay  from  one  to  three  feet  deep  on  the 
loftier  ridges  which  they  were  obliged  to  cross.  The 
struggle  with  the  elements,  during  the  last  two  hundred 
miles  before  gaining  Fort  Bridger,  was  desperate.  Near- 
ly a  third  of  the  horses  died  from  cold,  hunger,  and 
fatigue ;  everything  that  could  be  spared  was  thrown  out 
to  lighten  the  wagons,  and  the  road  was  strewn  with 
military  accoutrements  from  the  Rocky  Ridge  to  Green 
River.  On  the  20th  of  November,  Colonel  Cooke  reached 
the  camp  with  a  command  entirely  incapacitated  for 
active  service. 


92  OUR  UNITED  STATES 

"The  place  selected  by  Colonel  Johnston  for  the  Win- 
ter quarters  of  the  army  was  on  the  bank  of  Black's 
Fork,  about  two  miles  above  Fort  Bridger,  on  a  spot 
sheltered  by  high  bluffs  which  rise  abruptly  from  the  bot- 
tom at  a  distance  of  five  or  six  hundred  yards  from  the 
channel  of  the  stream.  The  banks  of  the  Fork  were 
fringed  with  willow  brush  and  cottonwood  trees,  blasted 
in  some  places  where  the  Mormons  had  attempted  to 
deprive  the  troops  of  fuel. 

"The  Colonel,  anticipating  a  change  of  encampment, 
determined  not  to  construct  quarters  of  logs  or  sod  for 
the  army.  A  new  species  of  tent,  which  had  just  been 
introduced,  was  served  out  for  its  winter  dwellings.  An 
iron  tripod  supported  a  pole  from  the  top  of  which  de- 
pended a  slender  but  strong  hoop.  Attached  to  this,  the 
canvas  sloped  to  a  regular  cone.  The  openings  at  the 
top  caused  a  draught,  by  means  of  which  a  fire  could  be 
kept  up  beneath  the  tripod  without  choking  the  inmates 
with  smoke.  An  Indian  lodge  had  evidently  been  the 
model  of  the  inventor.  Most  of  the  civil  officers,  how- 
ever, dug  square  holes  in  the  ground,  over  which  they 
built  log  huts,  plastering  the  cracks  with  mud.  Their 
little  town  they  named  Eckelsville,  after  the  Chief 
Justice. 

"A  depot  for  all  the  military  stores  was  established  at 
Fort  Bridger,  where  a  strong  detachment  was  encamped. 

"The  work  of  unloading  the  trains  commenced,  and 
after  careful  computation  the  Chief  Commissary  deter- 
mined, that,  by  an  abridgment  of  the  ration,  diminishing 
the  daily  use  of  flour,  and  issuing  bacon  only  once  a  week, 
his  supplies  would  last  until  the  first  of  June.  All  the 
beef  cattle  intended  for  the  use  of  the  army  having  been 
intercepted  by  the  Cheyennes,  it  became  necessary  to  kill 
those  draught  oxen  for  beef,  which  survived  the  march. 


ARMY  93 

Shambles  were  erected,  to  which  the  poor  half -starved 
animals  were  driven  by  hundreds  to  be  butchered.  The 
flesh  was  jerked  and  stored  carefully  in  cabins  built  for 
the  purpose." 

Upon  unloading  the  trains  a  scarcity  of  many  needed 
articles  was  discovered,  only  723  blankets  were  to  supply 
warmth  to  2,500  officers  and  men  in  an  altitude  of  7,000 
feet,  where  the  thermometer  is  liable  to  fall  below  zero 
on  Winter  nights.  Only  600  pairs  of  stockings  and  823 
pairs  of  boots  were  available  for  men  whose  only  foot 
gear  consisted  of  worn  and  battered  moccasins.  Caps 
to  the  number  of  190  with  only  938  coats  and  676  great- 
coats were  to  keep  these  wretched  men  warm  during  the 
freezing  Winter. 

"One  of  the  first  and  most  important  of  Colonel  John- 
ston's duties  was  to  provide  for  the  keeping,  during  the 
Winter  of  the  mules  and  horses  which  survived.  On 
Black's  Fork  there  was  no  grass  for  their  support.  It 
had  either  been  burned  by  the  Mormons  or  consumed  by 
their  cavalry.  He  decided  to  send  them  all  to  Henry's 
Fork,  thirty-five  miles  south  of  Fort  Bridger,  where  he 
had  at  one  time  designed  to  encamp  with  the  whole  army. 
The  regiment  of  dragoons  was  detailed  to  guard  them. 
A  supply  of  fresh  animals  for  transportation  in  the 
Spring  was  his  next  care.  The  settlements  in  New  Mex- 
ico are  less  than  seven  hundred  miles  distant  from  Fort 
Bridger,  and  to  them  he  resolved  to  apply.  Captain 
Marcy  was  the  officer  selected  to  lead  in  the  arduous 
expedition.  He  had  been  previously  distinguished,  in 
the  service  by  a  thorough  exploration  of  the  Red  River 
of  Louisiana.  Accompanied  by  only  thirty-five  picked 
men,  all  volunteers,  and  by  two  guides,  he  started  for 
Taos,  November  27 — an  undertaking  from  which,  at 
that  season  of  the  year,  the  most  experienced  moun- 


94  OUR  UNITED  STATES 

taineers  would  have  shrunk.  A  party  was  despatched  at 
the  same  time  to  the  Flathead  country,  in  Oregon  and 
Washington  Territories,  to  procure  horses  to  remount 
the  dragoons,  and  to  induce  the  traders  in  that  region 
to  drive  cattle  down  to  Fort  Bridger  for  sale.  On  the 
day  of  Captain  Marcy's  departure,  Governor  'Gumming 
issued  a  proclamation,  declaring  the  Territory  to  be  in 
a  state  of  rebellion,  and  commanding  the  traitors  to  lay 
down  their  arms  and  return  to  their  homes.  It  announced, 
also,  that  proceedings  would  be  instituted  against  the 
offenders,  in  a  court  to  be  organized  in  the  country  by 
Judge  Eckels,  which  would  supercede  the  necessity  of 
appointing  a  military  commission  for  that  purpose.  This 
document  was  sent  to  Salt  Lake  City  by  a  Mormon  pris- 
oner who  was  released  for  the  purpose.  The  Governor 
sent  also,  by  the  same  messenger,  a  letter  to  Brigham 
Young,  in  which  there  were  expressions  that  indicated 
a  disposition  to  temporize. 

"The  whole  camp,  at  this  time,  was  a  scene  of  confu- 
sion and  bustle.  Some  of  the  stragglers  around  the  tents 
were  Indians  belonging  to  a  band  of  Pah-Utahs,  among 
whom  Dr.  Hurt,  already  mentioned  as  the  only  Federal 
officer  who  did  not  abandon  the  Territory  in  the  Spring 
of  1857,  had  established  a  farm  upon  the  banks  of  the 
Spanish  Fork,  which  rises  among  the  snows  of  Mount 
Nebo,  and  flows  into  Lake  Utah  from  the  East.  Shortly 
after  the  issue  of  Brigham  Young's  proclamation  of  Sep- 
tember 15th,  the  Mormons  resolved  to  take  the  Doctor 
prisoner.  No  official  was  ever  more  obnoxious  to  the 
Church  than  he,  for  by  his  authority  over  the  tribes  he 
had  been  able  to  counteract  in  great  measure  the  influence 
by  which  Young  had  endeavored  to  alienate  both  Snakes 
and  Utahs  from  the  control  of  the  United  States.  On 
the  27th  of  September,  two  bands  of  mounted  men  moved 


ARMY  95 

towards  the  farm  from  the  neighboring  towns  of 
Springville  and  Payson.  Warned  by  the  faithful  Indians 
of  his  danger,  the  Doctor  fled  to  the  mountains,  and 
twenty  Pah-Utahs  and  Uinta-Utahs  escorted  him  to  the 
South  Pass,  where  he  joined  Colonel  Johnston  on  the 
23rd  of  October.  It  was  an  act  of  devotion  which  has 
rarely  been  excelled  in  Indian  history.  The  sufferings 
of  his  naked  escort  on  the  journey  were  severe.  They 
crossed  the  Green  River  Mountains,  breaking  the  crust 
of  the  snow  and  leading  their  animals,  being  reduced  at 
the  time  to  tallow  and  roots  for  their  own  sustenance. 
On  the  advance  of  the  army  towards  Fort  Bridger,  they 
accompanied  its  march. 

"Another  class  of  stragglers,  and  one  most  dangerous 
to  the  peace  of  the  camp,  was  composed  of  the  thousand 
teamsters,  who  were  discharged  from  employment  on  the 
supply  trains.  Many  of  these  men  belonged  to  the  scum 
of  the  great  Western  cities, — a  class  more  dangerous, 
because  more  intelligent  and  reckless,  than  the  same  class 
of  population  in  New  York.  Others  had  sought  to  reach 
California,  not  anticipating  a  state  of  hostilities  which 
would  bar  their  way.  Now,  thrown  out  of  employment, 
with  slender  means,  a  great  number  became  desperate. 
Hundreds  attempted  to  return  to  the  States  on  foot,  some 
of  whom  died  on  the  way, — but  the  majority  hung  around 
the  camp.  To  some  of  these  the  Quartermaster  was  able 
to  furnish  work,  but  he  was  obviously  incapable  of  afford- 
ing assistance  to  all.  Thefts  and  assaults  became  fre- 
quent, and  promised  to  multiply  as  the  season  advanced. 
To  remedy  this  trouble,  Colonel  Johnston  assumed  the 
responsibility  of  organizing  a  volunteer  battalion.  The 
term  of  service  for  which  the  men  enlisted  was  nine 
months.  For  their  pay  they  were  to  depend  on  the  action 
of  Congress.  The  four  companies  which  the  battalion 


96  OUR  UNITED  STATES 

comprised  selected  for  their  commander  an  officer  from 
the  regular  army,  Captain  Bee,  of  the  Tenth  Infantry. 

"The  organization  of  a  District  Court  by  Judge  Eckels, 
helped  quite  essentially  to  enforce  order.  Its  convicts 
were  received  by  Colonel  Johnston  and  committed  to 
imprisonment  in  the  guard  tents  of  the  army.  The  grand 
jury  returned  bills  of  indictment  against  Brigham  Young 
and  sixty  of  his  principal  associates. 

"Two  messengers  came  to  camp  from  Salt  Lake  City 
at  the  beginning  of  December,  escorted  by  a  party  of 
Mormon  militia,  and  bringing  four  pack-mules  loaded 
with  salt  (the  army  had  been  destitute  of  this  necessary 
article  for  some  time),  which  a  letter  from  Young  offered 
as  a  present,  with  assurances  that  it  was  not  poisoned. 

"The  Colonel  returned  no  other  answer  to  this  epistle 
than  to  dismiss  its  bearers  with  their  salt,  informing  them 
that  he  could  accept  no  favors  from  traitors  and  rebels, 
and  that  any  communication  which  they  might  in  future 
hold  with  the  army  must  be  under  a  flag  of  truce,  although 
as  to  the  manner  in  which  they  might  communicate  with 
the  Governor  it  was  not  within  his  province  to  prescribe. 
A  week  or  two  later,  a  thousand  pounds  of  salt  were 
forced  through  to  the  camp  from  Fort  Laramie,  thirty 
out  of  the  forty-six  mules  on  which  it  was  packed  per- 
ishing on  the  way. 

"Thus  the  long  and  dreary  Winter  commenced  in  the 
camp  of  the  army  of  Utah.  It  mattered  not  that  the 
rations  were  abridged,  that  communications  with  the 
States  were  interrupted,  and  that  every  species  of  duty 
at  such  a  season,  in  such  a  region,  was  uncommonly 
severe.  Confidence  and  even  gayety  were  restored  to 
the  camp,  by  the  consciousness  that  it  was  commanded 
by  an  officer  whose  intelligence  was  adequate  to  the  diffi- 
culties of  his  position.  Every  additional  hardship  was 


ARMY  97 

cheerfully  endured.  As  the  animals  failed,  all  the  wood 
used  in  camp  was  obliged  to  be  drawn  a  distance  of  from 
three  to  six  miles  by  hand,  but  there  were  few  gayer 
spectacles  than  the  long  strings  of  soldiers  hurrying 
wagons  over  the  crunching  snow.  They  built  great 
pavilions,  decorated  them  with  colors  and  stacks  of 
arms,  and  danced  as  merrily  on  Christmas  and  New 
Year's  Eves  to  the  music  of  the  regimental  bands,  as  if 
they  had  been  in  cozy  cantonments,  instead  of  in  a  camp 
of  fluttering  canvas,  more  than  seven  thousand  feet  above 
the  level  of  the  sea.  In  the  pavilion  of  the  Fifth  Infan- 
try, there  drooped  over  the  company  the  flags  which 
that  regiment  had  carried,  ten  years  before,  up  the  sunny 
slopes  of  Chapultepec,  and  which  were  torn  in  a  hundred 
places  by  the  storm  of  bullets  at  Molinos  del  Rey. 

"Meanwhile,  how  hearts  were  beating  in  the  States 
with  anxious  apprehension  for  the  safety  of  kindred  and 
friends,  those  who  felt  that  anxiety,  and  not  those  who 
were  the  objects  of  it  best  know. 

"Perhaps  the  disposition  of  the  camp  would  have  been 
more  in  harmony  with  the  scenery  and  the  season,  if 
the  army  had  dreamed  that  the  administration  which  had 
launched  it  so  recklessly  into  circumstances  of  such  pri- 
vation and  danger,  was  about  to  turn  its  labors  and  suf- 
ferings into  a  farce,  and  to  claim  the  approval  of  the 
country  for  an  act  of  mistaken  clemency,  which  was  in 
reality  a  grave  political  error. 

"In  the  meanwhile  Congress  had  assembled.  The  agi- 
tation on  the  subject  of  Slavery,  far  from  being  sup- 
pressed, or  even  overshadowed,  burned  more  fiercely  than 
ever.  The  transient  gleam  of  importance  which  had 
attached  to  the  Mormon  War  was  almost  extinguished. 
The  people  of  the  States  no  longer  felt  a  much  more 
vital  interest  in  news  from  that  remote  region  than  in 


98  OUR  UNITED  STATES 

tidings  from  the  rebellion  in  India  or  of  the  wars  in 
China.  Their  attention,  sympathy,  and  curiosity  were 
all  fastened  upon  the  action  of  Congress  with  respect 
to  Kansas — for  therein,  it  was  believed,  were  contained 
the  germs  of  the  political  combinations  for  the  Presiden- 
tial election  of  1860.  The  same  listlessness  with  regard 
to  affairs  in  Utah  pervaded  the  Cabinet.  All  its  prestige 
was  staked  on  the  result  of  the  impending  struggle  in 
the  House  of  Representatives  over  the  Lecompton  Con- 
stitution, and  its  energies  were  abstracted  from  every 
other  subject,  to  be  concentrated  upon  that  alone. 

"Indifferent  and  inactive  as  this  review  shows  Con- 
gress and  the  President  to  have  been  concerning  Utah, 
a  similar  apathy  was  impossible  in  the  War  Department. 
Not  only  the  welfare,  but  the  lives  even,  of  the  troops 
at  Fort  Bridger,  depended  on  its  action.  Transactions 
of  such  magnitude  had  not  been  incumbent  on  its  bureau 
since  the  Mexican  War.  The  chief  anxiety  of  General 
Johnston  was  for  the  transmissions  of  supplies  from  the 
East  as  early  as  possible  in  the  Spring.  The  contractors 
for  their  transportation  during  the  year  1857  had  win- 
tered several  trains  at  Fort  Laramie,  together  with  oxen 
and  teamsters.  The  General  entertained  a  fear  that  so 
great  a  proportion  of  their  stock  might  perish  during 
the  Winter  as  to  cripple  their  advance  until  fresh  animals 
could  be  obtained  from  the  States.  Combined  with  this 
fear  was  an  apprehension  for  the  safety  of  Captain 
Marcy.  A  prisoner,  whom  the  Mormons  had  captured  in 
October  on  Ham's  Fork,  escaped  from  Salt  Lake  City  at 
the  close  of  December,  and  brought  news  to  Camp  Scott 
that  they  intended  to  fit  out  an  expedition  to  intercept 
the  command  and  stampede  the  herds  with  which  that 
officer  would  move  from  New  Mexico.  The  despatches 
in  which  these  anxieties  were  communicated  to  General 


ARMY  99 

Scott,  together  with  suggestions  for  their  relief,  were  in- 
trusted in  midwinter  to  a  small  party  for  conveyance 
to  the  States.  The  journey  taught  them  what  must  have 
been  the  sufferings  of  the  expedition  which  Captain 
Marcy  led  to  Taos.  Reduced  at  one  time  to  buffalo  tal- 
low and  coffee  for  sustenance,  there  was  not  a  day  during 
the  transit  across  the  mountains  when  any  stronger  bar- 
rier than  the  lives  of  a  few  half-starved  mules  inter- 
posed between  them  and  death  by  famine.  All  along 
the  route  lay  memorials  of  the  march  of  the  army,  and 
especially  of  Colonel  Cooke's  battalion, — a  trail  of  skele- 
tons a  thousand  miles  in  length,  gnawed  bare  by  the 
wolves  and  bleaching  in  the  snow,  visible  at  every  undula- 
tion in  the  drifts.  But  before  the  arrival  of  these  des- 
patches at  New  York,  the  arrangements  of  the  War 
Department  to  forward  supplies  to  Utah  had  been  com- 
pleted. The  representations  of  the  contractors'  agents 
with  regard  to  the  condition  of  the  cattle  at  Fort  Laramie 
were  received  without  question,  and  Brevet  Lieutenant 
Colonel  Hoffman,  of  the  Sixth  Infantry,  was  despatched 
to  that  post  to  superintend  the  advance  of  the  trains. 
Additional  contracts  of  an  unprecedented  character,  were 
entered  into  for  furnishing  and  transporting  all  the  sup- 
plies which  would  be  needed  during  the  year  1858,  both 
for  the  troops  already  in  the  Territory  and  for  the  rein- 
forcements which  were  ordered  to  concentrate  at  Fort 
Leavenworth  and  march  to  Utah  as  soon  as  the  roads 
should  be  passable. 

"These  reinforcements  were  about  three  thousand 
strong,  comprising  the  First  Cavalry,  the  Sixth  and  Sev- 
enth Infantry,  and  two  artillery-batteries.  The  trains 
necessary  for  so  large  a  force,  in  addition  to  that  at  Fort 
Bridger,  it  was  estimated  would  comprise  at  least  forty- 
five  hundred  wagons,  requiring  more  than  fifty  thousand 


100          OUR  UNITED  STATES 

oxen,  four  thousand  mules,  and  five  thousand  teamsters, 
wagon  masters  and  other  employes.  To  the  shame  of 
the  Administration,  these  gigantic  contracts,  involving 
an  amount  of  more  than  six  million  dollars,  were  dis- 
tributed with  a  view  to  influence  votes  in  the  House  of 
Representatives  upon  the  Lecompton  Bill.  Some  of  the 
lesser  ones,  such  as  those  for  furnishing  mules,  dragoon- 
horses,  and  forage,  were  granted  arbitrarily  to  relatives 
or  friends  of  members  who  were  wavering  upon  that 
question.  The  principal  contract,  that  for  the  transpor- 
tation of  all  supplies,  involving,  for  the  year  1858,  the 
amount  of  four  millions  and  a  half,  was  granted,  with- 
out advertisement  or  subdivision,  to  a  firm  in  Western 
Missouri,  whose  members  had  distinguished  themselves 
in  the  effort  to  make  Kansas  a  slave  state,  and  now  con- 
tributed liberally  to  defray  the  election  expenses  of  the 
Democratic  party. 

"At  Camp  Scott  the  Winter  dragged  along  wearily. 
Between  November  and  March  only  two  mails  arrived 
there,  and  the  great  monetary  crisis  in  the  United  States 
was  unknown  till  months  after  it  had  subsided.  The 
Mormons  were  constantly  in  possession  of  later  intelli- 
gence from  the  States  than  the  army,  for,  by  a  strange 
inconsistency,  their  mails  to  and  from  California,  were 
not  interfered  with. 

"A  brigade-guard  was  mounted  daily  at  Camp,  larger 
than  that  of  the  whole  American  army  on  the  eve  of  the 
battles  before  Mexico,  and  scouting  parties  were  con- 
tinually despatched  to  scour  the  country  in  a  circuit  of 
thirty  miles  around  Fort  Bridger;  for  there  was  con- 
stant apprehension  of  an  attempt  by  the  Mormons  to 
stampede  the  herds  on  Henry's  Fork,  if  not  to  attack 
the  regiment  which  guarded  them.  No  tidings  arrived 
from  Captain  Marcy,  and  a  most  painful  apprehension 


ARMY  101 

prevailed  as  to  his  fate.  At  the  close  of  January,  Dr. 
Hurt,  the  Indian  Agent,  after  consultation  with  General 
Johnston,  started  from  the  camp,  accompanied  only  by 
four  Pah-Utahs,  and  crossed  the  Uinta  Mountains, 
through  snow  drifted  twenty  feet  deep,  to  the  villages 
of  the  tribe  of  Uinta-Utahs,  on  the  river  of  the  same 
name.  It  was  his  intention,  in  case  of  need,  to  employ 
these  Indians  to  warn  Captain  Marcy  of  danger  and 
afford  him  relief.  It  proved  to  be  unnecessary  to  do 
so,  and  Dr.  Hurt  returned  in  April;  but  the  hardships 
he  endured  in  the  undertaking  resulted  in  an  illness 
which  threatened  his  life  for  weeks.  On  the  13th  of 
March,  an  express  had  come  in  from  New  Mexico, 
bringing  news  of  the  safe  arrival  of  Captain  Marcy  at 
Taos  on  the  22nd  of  January.  The  sufferings  of  his 
whole  party  from  cold  and  hunger  had  been  severe. 
Their  provisions  failed  them,  and  they  had  recourse  to 
mule-meat.  Many  of  the  men  were  badly  frost  bitten, 
but  only  one  perished  on  the  way. 

"Just  at  this  time,  Mr.  Thomas  L.  Kane,  of  Pennsyl- 
vania,— son  of  the  late  Judge  of  the  United  States  Dis- 
trict Court  for  that  State,  and  brother  of  the  late  Dr. 
Kane,  the  Arctic  explorer, — solicited  the  Administration 
for  employment  as  a  mediator  between  the  Mormons  and 
the  Federal  Government.  Mr.  Kane  was  one  of  the  few 
persons  of  education  and  social  standing  who  were  well 
acquainted  with  Mormon  history. 

"Its  experience  in  Kansas  had  familiarized  the  Cabinet 
with  the  use  of  secret  agents;  but,  nevertheless,  the 
proposition  of  Mr.  Kane  was  coldly  received.  After  a 
brief  correspondence,  he  started  for  California  in  no 
capacity  a  representative  of  the  government,  if  he  him- 
self is  to  be  believed,  but  bearing  letters  from  Mr. 
Buchanan  indorsing  his  character  as  a  gentleman,  and 


102  OUR  UNITED  STATES 

exhorting  Federal  officials  to  render  him  such  courtesies 
as  were  within  their  power.  Having  arrived  at  San 
Francisco,  he  journeyed  southward  to  the  lately  aban- 
doned Mormon  settlement  of  San  Bernardino,  near  Los 
Angeles,  travelling  under  the  assumed  name  of  Osborne, 
and  proclaiming  his  business  to  be  the  collection  of  speci- 
mens for  an  entomological  society  in  Philadelphia." 

Mr.  Kane  reached  Salt  Lake  City  safely  in  February, 
1858,  and  immediately  held  council  with  the  Presidency 
and  the  Twelve.  Tullidge  in  his  Life  of  Brigham  Young 
reports  that  Mr.  Kane  opened  his  address  by  saying: 

"I  come  as  ambassador  from  the  Chief  Executive  of 
our  nation,  and  am  prepared  and  duly  authorized  to  lay 
before  you,  most  fully  and  definitely  the  feelings  and 
views  of  the  citizens  of  our  common  country  and  of  the 
Executive  toward  you,  relative  to  the  present  position  of 
this  territory,  and  relative  to  the  army  of  the  United 
States  now  upon  your  borders."  He  added  that  he  de- 
sired to  "enlist  their  sympathies  for  the  poor  soldiers 
who  are  now  suffering  in  the  cold  and  snow  of  the  moun- 
tains !" 

After  a  prolonged  and  secret  interview  alone  with 
Brigham  Young,  Mr.  Kane  was  given  shelter  in  the  house 
of  an  elder.  A  few  days  later  he  set  out  to  visit  Camp 
Scott.  Mr.  Kane's  leanings  to  the  Mormon  faith  were 
well  known,  his  discrepancies  in  stating  the  position  that 
he  held  as  an  authorized  intermediary  between  the  Fed- 
eral Government  and  the  Mormons,  can  only  be  explained 
by  the  fact  that  he  was  the  recipient  of  secret  instructions 
not  in  accord  with  those  printed  and  published.  Upon 
his  arrival  at  Camp  Scott,  March  10th,  he  ignored  the 
sentry's  challenge  and  the  latter  fired  upon  him,  where- 
upon he  broke  his  own  weapon  over  the  sentry's  head. 
With  this  informal  entrance  within  army  lines  he  asked  to 


ARMY  103 

be  conducted  into  the  presence  of  Governor  Gumming. 
Mr.  Kane  remained  at  Camp  Eckels  until  April  and  suc- 
ceeded in  winning  that  gentleman  to  his  point  of  view,  as 
well  as  establishing  a  strained  condition  between  the  Gov- 
ernor and  the  Commander  of  the  military  forces.  Mr. 
Kane's  plan  was  for  the  Governor  to  enter  Salt  Lake 
Valley  unattended  by  his  posse  comitatus,  but  in  the 
company  of  a  Mormon  escort. 

Governor  Cumming  announced  to  General  Johnston 
on  April  3rd,  that  he  had  decided  to  adopt  this  method 
of  inspiring  confidence  in  Federal  authority  and  two 
days  later  he  left  Camp  Eckels  for  Salt  Lake  City.  In 
a  report  to  army  headquarters,  dated  January  20th,  Gen- 
eral Johnston's  own  view  of  the  policy  pursued  toward 
the  Mormons  is  summed  up  as  follows : 

"Knowing  how  repugnant  it  would  be  to  the  policy  or 
interest  of  the  government  to  do  any  act  that  would 
force  these  people  into  unpleasant  relations  with  the  fed- 
eral government,  I  have,  in  conformity  with  the  views 
also  of  the  commanding  general,  on  all  proper  occasions, 
manifested  in  my  intercourse  with  them  a  spirit  of  con- 
ciliation. But  I  do  not  believe  that  such  consideration  of 
them  would  be  properly  appreciated  now,  or  rather  would 
be  wrongly  interpreted ;  and,  in  view  of  the  treasonable 
temper  and  feeling  now  pervading  the  leaders  and  a 
greater  portion  of  the  Mormons,  I  think  that  neither  the 
honor  nor  the  dignity  of  the  government  will  allow  of 
the  slightest  concession  being  made  to  them." 

Governor  Cumming  entered  Salt  Lake  City  on  the  12th 
of  April;  three  days  later  he  notified  General  Johnston 
of  his  arrival.  One  of  his  first  acts  was  to  assure  the 
people  of  his  protection  and  upon  being  informed  that 
there  were  many  people  desiring  to  leave  the  Territory 
but  that  they  were  unable  to  do  so,  he  proposed  that  they 


104  OUR  UNITED  STATES 

register  with  him  their  names  and  addresses.  Within 
the  following  week  about  two  hundred  persons  signified 
their  intention  of  leaving  and  these  were  formed  into 
trains  with  such  movable  property  as  they  possessed  and 
despatched  towards  Fort  Bridger. 

"They  arrived  there  in  the  course  of  May, — as  motley, 
ragged,  and  destitute  a  crowd  as  ever  descended  from 
the  deck  of  an  Irish  emigrant  ship  at  New  York  or  Bos- 
ton. The  only  garments  Which  some  possessed  were 
made  of  the  canvas  of  their  wagon  covers.  Many  were 
on  foot.  For  provisions,  they  had  nothing  except  flour 
and  some  fresh  meat.  It  is  a  fact  creditable  to  humanity, 
that  private  soldiers,  by  the  score,  shared  their  own 
abridged  rations  and  scanty  stock  of  clothing  with  these 
poor  wretches,  and  in  less  than  a  day  after  their  arrival 
they  were  provided  with  much  to  make  them  comfort- 
able. 

"On  Sunday,  the  Governor  made  a  speech  to  the  con- 
gregation, being  introduced  by  Brigham  Young.  He 
reviewed  the  relations  of  the  Mormons  to  the  Federal 
government;  assumed  that  General  Johnston  and  the 
army  were  under  his  control;  pledged  his  word  they 
should  not  be  stationed  in  immediate  contact  with  the  set- 
tlements ;  and  gave  assurances,  also,  that  no  military 
posse  should  be  employed  to  arrest  a  Mormon  until 
every  other  means  had  been  tried  and  had  failed.  At 
the  close,  he  invited  any  of  their  number  to  respond. 
Various  persons  immediately  addressed  the  audience  in 
almost  frantic  speeches,  concerning  the  murder  of  Joseph 
and  Hiram  Smith  at  Carthage,  the  persecution  of  the 
saints  in  Missouri  and  Illinois,  the  services  rendered  by 
the  Mormon  Battalion  to  an  ungrateful  country  during 
the  Mexican  War;  the  toils  and  perils  of  the  migration 
to  Utah,  and  the  character  of  the  Federal  officers  who 


ARMY  105 

had  been  sent  to  rule  the  Territory.  Personal  insults 
were  heaped  upon  the  Governor,  and  a  scene  of  the 
wildest  confusion  was  the  result,  which  was  quieted 
with  great  difficulty  by  Young  himself. 

"All  this  while,  a  movement  of  a  most  extraordinary 
character  was  being  carried  on,  which  had  commenced 
before  the  Governor  entered  the  valley.  The  people  of 
the  northern  settlements,  along  the  base  of  the  Wah- 
satch  Mountains,  including  Salt  Lake  City,  were  desert- 
ing their  homes,  abandoning  houses,  crops,  and  their 
heavier  furniture,  and  migrating  southward.  Long 
wagon-trains  were  sweeping  through  the  city  every  day, 
accompanied  by  hundreds  of  families  and  droves  of 
horses  and  cattle. 

"A  fair  estimate  of  the  entire  Mormon  population  of 
Utah  is  about  forty-five  thousand.  Of  this  number,  ten 
thousand  is  the  proportion  of  the  towns  north  of  Salt 
Lake  City,  and  upward  of  fifteen  thousand  that  of  the 
city  itself  and  settlements  in  its  immediate  neighbor- 
hood. Considerably  more  than  half  the  people  of  the 
Territory,  therefore,  shared  in  this  emigration.  What 
was  its  object  and  what  its  destination  are  still  mys- 
teries ; — at  any  rate,  it  was  conducted  under  the  direction 
of  the  Church,  and  Young  and  Kimball  were  among  the 
first  to  lead  the  way.  Commencing  late  in  March,  it 
continued  until  June,  and  before  the  beginning  of  May 
more  than  thirty-five  thousand  people  were  concentrated 
on  the  western  shore  of  Lake  Utah,  chiefly  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  Provo,  fifty  miles  south  of  Salt  Lake  City. 
Such  a  scene  of  squalid  misery,  such  a  spectacle  of  want 
and  distress,  was  never  before  witnessed  in  America. 
More  than  half  this  multitude  could  not  be  accommodated 
in  the  towns,  and  lodged  in  board  shanties,  wigwams, 
mud-huts,  log-cabins,  bowers  of  willow  branches  cov- 


106          OUR  UNITED  STATES 

ered  with  wagon  sheets,  and  even  in  holes  dug  into  the 
hill-sides.  The  most  common  quarters,  however,  were 
made  by  removing  a  wagon-body  from  its  wheels,  plac- 
ing it  upon  the  ground,  and  erecting  in  front  of  it  a  bower 
of  cedars.  It  is  needless  to  dwell  on  the  exasperation 
which  animated  all  who  submitted  to  these  sacrifices. 

"On  the  6th  of  April,  the  President  had  signed  a 
Proclamation,  at  Washington,  rehearsing  to  the  people 
of  Utah  Territory,  at  considerable  length,  their  past 
offences,  and  particularly  those  which  immediately  pre- 
ceded and  followed  the  outbreak  of  the  rebellion,  and 
declaring  them  traitors;  but  'in  order  to  save  the  effu- 
sion of  blood,  and  to  avoid  the  indiscriminate  punishment 
of  a  whole  people  for  crimes  of  which  it  is  not  probable 
that  all  are  equally  guilty,'  offering  'a  free  and  full  par- 
don to  all  who  will  submit  themselves  to  the  authority 
of  the  Federal  Government/  This  document  was  in- 
trusted to  two  Commissioners  for  conveyance  to  the  Ter- 
ritory;— one  of  them,  Mr.  L.  W.  Powell,  lately  Gover- 
nor, and  at  the  time  Senator-elect,  of  the  State  of  Ken- 
tucky; the  other  Major  Ben  M'Cullock,  of  Texas,  who 
had  served  with  distinction  in  Mexico. 

"The  reinforcements  and  supply  trains  for  the  army 
were  at  this  time  concentrated  at  Fort  Leavenworth. 
Major  General  Persifer  F.  Smith  was  assigned  to  the 
commander-in-chief,  and  it  was  intended  that  the  whole 
force,  after  concentration  in  Utah,  should  be  divided  into 
two  brigades,  one  to  be  commanded  by  General  Harney, 
the  other  by  General  Johnston.  Leaving  the  columns 
preparing  to  advance  over  the  Plains,  the  Commissioners 
started  from  the  Fort  on  the  25th  of  April.  On  the  same 
day  Lieutenant  Colonel  Hoffman  advanced  from  Fort 
Laramie  with  several  companies  of  infantry  and  cavalry, 
escorting  the  supply  trains  which  were  parked  there 


ARMY  107 

through  the  Winter,  and  on  the  speedy  arrival  of  which 
at  Camp  Scott  the  subsistence  of  General  Johnston's 
command  depended  unless  it  should  force  its  way  into 
the  Valley.  On  the  1st  of  May,  he  had  reached  La 
Boute,  a  tributary  of  the  North  Platte,  fifty  miles  from 
the  Fort.  There  he  encountered  the  severest  storm  that 
had  occurred  in  that  region  for  many  years.  Snow  fell 
breast-deep,  and  was  followed  by  a  pelting  rain  which 
killed  his  mules  by  scores.  He  was  forced  to  remain 
stationary  more  than  a  week,  and  when  he  renewed 
the  march  the  trains  were  clogged  by  mud  a  foot 
deep. 

"The  Commissioners  reached  Camp  Scott  on  the  29th 
of  May.  The  President's  Proclamation  had  been 
received  the  day  before.  With  the  exception  of  a  few 
persons  who  were  prepared  for  such  a  document  by 
reflection  on  Mr.  Kane's  mission,  everybody  was  aston- 
ished at  its  purport.  It  seemed  incredible  that  lenity 
should  have  been  extended  to  the  Mormon  rebels  which 
was  refused  to  the  Free-State  men  in  Kansas,  who  were 
once  indicted  for  treason  and  sedition.  There  was  none 
of  the  blood-thirsty  excitement  in  the  camp  which  was 
reported  in  the  States  to  have  prevailed  there,  but  there 
was  a  feeling  of  infinite  chagrin,  a  consciousness  that 
the  expedition  was  only  a  pawn  on  Mr.  Buchanan's  polit- 
ical chess-board ;  and  reproaches  against  his  folly  were 
as  frequent  as  they  were  vehement." 

Following  their  instruction  the  Commissions  proceeded 
to  Salt  Lake  City  and  at  once  gave  extensive  circulation 
to  the  President's  Proclamation.  Brigham  Young  being 
now  assured  that  entire  forgiveness  for  past  transgres- 
sions was  established,  and  no  legal  or  military  action 
would  be  taken  against  the  Saints,  declared  in  conference 
that  he  had  done  nothing  for  which  he  desired  the  Presi- 


108  OUR  UNITED  STATES 

dent's  forgiveness  and  followed  his  surrender  to  condi- 
tions of  peace  with  declarations  such  as  these : 

"I  can  take  a  few  of  the  boys  here,  and,  with  the  help 
of  the  Lord,  can  whip  the  whole  of  the  United  States. 
Boys,  how  do  you  feel?  Are  you  afraid  of  the  United 
States?  (Great  demonstration  among  the  brethren.)  No. 
No.  We  are  not  afraid  of  man,  nor  of  what  he  can  do. 

"The  United  'States  are  going  to  destruction  as  fast 
as  they  can  go.  If  you  do  not  believe  it,  gentlemen,  you 
will  see  it  to  your  sorrow. 

"Now,  let  me  say  to  you  peace  commissioners,  we  are 
willing  those  troops  should  come  into  our  country,  but 
not  to  stay  in  our  city.  They  may  pass  through  it,  if 
needs  be,  but  must  not  quarter  less  than  forty  miles 
from  us." 

With  this  declaration  the  Mormon  War  was  ended. 
General  Johnston  was  instructed  by  the  commissioners 
that  the  Mormons  had  agreed  to  obey  the  laws  of  the 
territory  and  that  the  military  and  civil  officers  would  be 
allowed  to  perform  their  duties  without  interference. 

Before  leaving  camp  the  commissioners  had  urged 
General  Johnston  to  advance  the  army  as  rapidly  as 
possible.  On  the  8th  of  June  Captain  Marcy  arrived 
with  a  herd  of  nearly  fifteen  hundred  mules  and  horses, 
and  an  escort  of  five  companies  of  infantry  and  mounted 
rifle  men.  Within  the  next  two  days  Colonel  Hoffman 
reached  Fort  Bridger  with  all  his  supply  trains  and  the 
next  day  General  Johnston  gave  orders  to  break  camp 
and  march  to  Salt  Lake  City.  A  strong  detachment  of 
infantry  artillery  was  left  to  garrison  Fort  Bridger. 

"On  the  13th  of  June,  the  long  camp  was  broken  up, 
and  the  army  moved  forward  in  three  columns  on  the 
route  through  the  canons.  Although  the  season  was  so 
far  advanced,  snow  had  fallen  at  the  Fort  only  three 


ARMY  109 

days  before.  The  streams  were  swollen  and  turbulent 
with  spring  floods,  and  difficulty  was  anticipated  in  cross- 
ing the  Bear  and  Weber  Rivers.  Material  for  bridging 
had,  therefore,  been  prepared,  and  accompanied  the  first 
column.  Southwest  of  the  Fort  at  the  distance  of  four 
or  five  miles,  a  singular  butte,  the  top  of  which  is  as 
level  as  the  floor  of  a  ball  room,  rises  to  the  height  of 
eight  hundred  feet  above  the  valley  of  Black's  Fork, 
and  commands  a  view  of  the  entire  broad  plateau  between 
Wind  River  and  the  Uinta  and  \Vasatch  Ranges.  Lit- 
tle parties  of  horsemen  could  be  seen  spurring  up  the 
gullies  on  its  almost  precipitous  sides,  to  witness  from 
its  summit  the  departure  of  the  army.  The  scene  was 
in  the  highest  degree  picturesque.  Almost  at  their  feet 
lay  the  camp,  the  few  tents  which  remained  un-struck 
glittering  like  bright  dots  on  the  wing  of  an  insect,  the 
white-washed  wall  of  the  Fort  reflecting  the  sunshine, 
while  stacks  of  turf  chimneys,  lodge-poles,  and  rubbish 
marked  the  spots  where  the  encampment  had  been  aban- 
doned. The  whole  valley  was  in  commotion.  Along  the 
strips  of  road  were  winding  clumsy  baggage-trains;  the 
regiment  of  dragoons  was  trailing  in  advance ;  the  gleam 
of  the  musket  barrels  of  the  infantry  was  visible  on  all 
sides;  and  every  puff  of  the  breeze  that  blew  over  the 
bluff  was  freighted  with  the  rumble  of  artillery-carriages 
and  caisons.  Here  and  there  were  groups  of  half-naked 
Indians  galloping  to  and  fro,  with  fluttering  blankets, 
gazing  at  the  show  with  the  curiosity  and  delight  of 
children. 

"On  the  14th  an  express  from  the  commissioners  ar- 
rived at  the  camp  on  Bear  River,  announcing  that  no 
resistance  would  be  made  by  the  Mormons,  who  pledged 
themselves  to  submit  to  Federal  authority. 

"The  troops  did  not  emerge  from  Emigration  Canon 


110          OUR  UNITED  STATES 

into  the  Salt  Lake  Valley  until  the  morning  of  the  29th. 
In  the  meanwhile,  thirty  or  forty  civilians  had  reached 
the  city  from  the  camp,  and  were  quartered,  like  the 
commissioners,  in  their  own  vehicles.  The  Mormons 
favored  no  one,  except  the  Governor  and  his  intimate 
associates,  with  any  species  of  accommodation.  Their 
demeanor  was  in  every  respect  like  a  conquered  people 
toward  foreign  invaders.  During  the  week  preceding  the 
26th,  two  or  three  hundred  of  those  on  Lake  Utah 
received  permission  to  go  up  to  the  city,  and  they  alone, 
of  the  whole  Mormon  community,  witnessed  the  ingress 
of  the  army. 

"It  was  one  of  the  most  extraordinary  scenes  that 
have  occurred  in  American  history.  All  day  long,  from 
dawn  till  after  sunset,  the  troops  and  trains  poured 
through  the  city,  the  utter  silence  of  the  streets  being 
broken  only  by  the  music  of  the  military  bands,  the 
monotonous  tramp  of  the  regiments,  and  the  rattle  of 
the  baggage  wagons.  Early  in  the  morning,  the  Mormon 
guard  had  forced  all  their  fellow  religionists  into  the 
houses,  and  ordered  them  not  to  make  their  appearance 
during  the  day.  The  numerous  flags,  which  had  been 
flying  from  staffs  on  the  public  buildings  during  the  pre- 
vious week,  were  all  struck.  The  only  visible  groups  of 
spectators  were  on  the  corners  near  Brigham  Young's 
residence,  and  consisted  almost  entirely  of  Gentile  civil- 
ians. The  stillness  was  so  profound,  that,  during  the 
intervals  between  the  passage  of  the  columns,  the  monot- 
onous gurgle  of  the  city  creek  struck  on  every  ear.  The 
Commissioners  rode  with  the  General's  staff.  The  troops 
crossed  the  Jordan  and  encamped  two  miles  from  the  city 
on  a  dusty  meadow  by  the  river  bank." 

Cedar  Valley  was  later  selected  by  General  Johnston 
as  one  of  the  three  posts  he  was  ordered  to  establish 


ARMY  111 

and  on  July  6th  his  camp  was  pitched  there  to  which  was 
given  the  name  of  Camp  Ployed.  Within  a  few  days 
the  first  of  the  thousands  of  citizens  who  had  deserted 
their  homes  began  to  return  and  before  long  the  city  of 
the  dead  once  more  showed  its  accustomed  life  and 
activity. 

"During  the  march  of  the  army,"  writes  Bancroft, 
"not  a  house  was  disturbed,  not  a  citizen  was  harmed  or 
molested,  and  during  its  sojourn  of  nearly  two  years  in 
the  territory,  instances  were  rare  indeed  of  gross  mis- 
conduct on  the  part  of  the  soldiery.  The  Mormons,  who 
had  before  been  eager  to  fight  the  troops,  were  now 
thankful  for  their  arrival.  Many  of  the  former  were 
very  poor;  they  had  a  few  cattle,  and  a  few  implements 
of  husbandry,  but  little  else  of  this  world's  goods  save 
their  farms  and  farm  dwellings.  They  were  ill  clad  and 
fed,  their  diet  consisting  chiefly  of  preparations  of  corn, 
flour,  and  milk,  with  beet  molasses,  and  the  fruits  and 
vegetables  of  their  gardens.  Now  they  had  an  oppor- 
tunity to  exchange  the  products  of  their  fields  and  dairies 
for  clothing,  for  such  luxuries  as  tea,  coffee,  sugar, 
tobacco  and  for  money — an  article  still  scarce  among 
them." 


CHAPTER  IX 
EXPLORATION  OF  THE  COLORADO  RIVER 

THE  Colorado  Exploring  expedition  under  Lieutenant 
J.  C.  Ives  was  organized  by  the  War  Department  in 
1857,  the  main  object  of  the  work  being  to  ascertain 
the  navigability  of  the  Colorado  River  as  a  practical 
avenue  of  transportation  for  supplies  to  various  military 
posts  in  New  Mexico  and  Utah.  Up  to  this  time  little 
had  been  known  concerning  this  great  river,  whose  water- 
shed covered  an  area  of  more  than  300,000  square  miles. 
The  Green  and  Grand  Rivers,  flowing  through  Utah  in 
a  southerly  direction,  were  supposed  to  unite  at  the 
southern  boundary  of  the  territory  and  form  the  Col- 
orado, but  the  point  of  junction  had  never  been  ascer- 
tained. Many  hundreds  of  miles  below  this  point  had 
never  been  explored  by  white  men,  although  certain 
portions  of  the  river  had  been  visited  by  Spanish  mis- 
sionaries and  soldiers  less  than  fifty  years  after  the 
landing  of  Columbus,  who  followed  its  course  for  a 
considerable  distance  from  its  mouth,  even  attaining  one 
of  the  most  distant  and  inaccessible  points  in  its  upper 
waters.  More  knowledge  of  the  river  was  gained  at  this 
early  period  than  during  the  three  subsequent  centuries. 
With  the  exception  of  occasional  exploring  expeditions 
under  the  direction  of  the  Spanish  authority  and  the  visi- 
tations of  Catholic  priests  the  river  was  scarcely 
approached  except  by  an  occasional  trapper  or  parties 

112 


ARMY  113 

of  gold  seekers  enroute  for  California.  These  emigrants 
suffered  molestation  at  the  hands  of  the  Yuma  Indians 
and  in  1850  a  detachment  of  United  States  troops  were 
sent  to  the  mouth  of  the  Gila  River  to  keep  order  and 
later  the  outpost  of  Fort  Yuma  was  regularly  established. 

"The  difficulty  of  furnishing  supplies  to  the  garrisons 
across  the  desert  was  such  that,  in  the  Winter  of  1850  and 
1851,  General  Smith,  commanding  the  Pacific  division, 
sent  a  schooner  from  San  Francisco  to  the  head  of  the 
Gulf  of  California,  and  directed  Lieutenant  Derby,  topo- 
graphical engineer,  to  make  a  reconnaissance,  with  a 
view  of  establishing  a  route  of  supply  to  Fort  Yuma,  via 
the  Gulf  and  the  Colorado.  The  result  of  the  reconnais- 
sance was  successful  and  the  route  was  at  once  put  in 
operation.  The  freight,  carried  in  sailing  vessels  to  the 
mouth  of  the  river,  was  transported  to  the  fort — the  dis- 
tance to  which,  by  the  river,  is  one  hundred  and  fifty 
miles — at  first  in  lighters  and  afterwards  in  steamboats." 

In  1851,  Captain  ^Litgreaves,  topographical  engineer, 
with  a  party  of  fifty  individuals,  made  an  exploration 
from  Zuni  westward.  He  struck  the  Colorado  at  a  point 
about  160  miles  above  Fort  Yuma,  and  followed  the  east 
side  of  the  river  to  the  fort,  keeping  as  near  to  the  bank 
as  possible.  He  encountered  the  Mojaves,  and  found 
their  appearance  and  customs  generally  to  agree  with  the 
descriptions  of  the  early  explorers.  The  descent  was 
accompanied  with  hardship  and  danger.  Both  the  Mo- 
javes and  Yumas  were  hostile,  and  the  difficulty  of  trav- 
elling near  the  river  was  extreme,  owing  to  the  chains 
of  rugged  and  precipitous  mountains  that  crossed  the 
valley.  The  summer  heats  had  parched  and  withered 
the  face  of  the  country;  the  stream  was  low,  and  what 
was  seen  of  it  did  not  create  a  favorable  opinion  regard- 
ing its  navigability. 


114  OUR  UNITED  STATES 

In  the  Spring  of  1854,  Lieutenant  Whipple,  topograph- 
ical engineer,  in  command  of  an  expedition  for  the  ex- 
ploration and  survey  of  a  railroad  route  near  the  35th 
parallel,  reached  the  Colorado,  at  the  mouth  of  Bill 
Williams'  Fork,  and  ascended  the  river  about  fifty  miles, 
leaving  it  at  a  point  not  far  below  where  Captain  Lit- 
greaves  had  first  touched  it.  The  expedition  was  com- 
posed of  nearly  a  hundred  persons,  including  the  escort. 
The  Mojaves  were  friendly,  furnishing  provisions  to  the 
party,  whose  supply  was  nearly  exhausted,  and  sending 
guides  to  conduct  them  by  the  best  route  across  the  desert 
westward.  The  river  was  probably  higher  than  when 
seen  by  Captain  Litgreaves  and  it  was  the  opinion  of 
Lieutenant  Whipple  that  it  would  be  navigable  for  steam- 
ers of  light  draught.  The  course  of  the  Colorado  north- 
ward could  be  followed  with  the  eye  for  only  a  short 
distance,  on  account  of  mountain  spurs  that  crossed  the 
valley  and  intercepted  the  view.  A  high  distant  range, 
through  which  the  river  apparently  broke,  was  supposed 
to  be  at  the  mouth  of  the  "Big  Canon,"  which  the  Span- 
iards in  1540,thad  visited  at  a  place  far  above. 

The  marvellous  story  of  Cardinas,  that  formed  for  so 
long  a  time  the  only  record  concerning  this  rather  myth- 
ical locality,  was  rather  magnified  than  detracted  from 
by  the  accounts  of  one  or  two  trappers,  who  professed 
to  have  seen  the  Canon,  and  propagated  among  their 
prairie  companions  incredible  accounts  of  the  stupendous 
character  of  the  formation,  so  that  it  became  a  matter 
of  interest  to  have  this  region  explored,  and  to  lay  down 
the  positions  of  the  Colorado  and  its  tributaries  along  the 
unknown  belt  of  the  country  north  of  the  35th  parallel. 

"To  ascertain  how  far  the  river  was  navigable  for 
steamboats  being  the  point  of  primary  importance,"  writes 
Lieutenant  Ives,  "it  was  necessary  first  to  make  provision 


ARMY  115 

for  this  portion  of  the  work.  The  company  employed 
in  carrying  freight  from  the  head  of  the  Gulf  to  Fort 
Yuma  was  unable  to  spare  a  boat  for  the  use  of  the  expe- 
dition, excepting  for  a  compensation  beyond  the  limits 
of  the  appropriation.  A  boat  of  suitable  construction, 
had,  therefore,  to  be  built  on  the  Atlantic  coast  and 
transported  to  San  Francisco,  and  thence  to  the  mouth 
of  the  river.  In  order  that  the  survey  should  be  made 
at  the  worst  and  lowest  stage  of  the  water,  I  had  been 
directed  to  commence  operations  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Colorado  on  the  1st  of  December.  This  left  little  time 
for  preparation,  considering  that  it  was  necessary  to 
build  a  steamer  and  carry  the  parts  to  so  great  a  distance. 
In  the  latter  part  of  June  I  ordered  of  Reany,  Neafie  & 
Co.,  of  Philadelphia,  an  iron  steamer,  fifty  feet  long,  to 
be  built  in  sections,  and  the  parts  to  be  so  arranged  that 
they  could  be  transported  by  railroad,  as  the  shortness 
of  time  required  that  it  should  be  sent  to  California,  via 
the  Isthmus  of  Panama.  About  the  middle  of  August 
the  boat  was  finished,  tried  upon  the  Delaware,  and  found 
satisfactory,  subject  to  a  few  alterations  only.  It  was 
then  taken  apart,  sent  to  New  York,  and  shipped  on 
board  of  the  California  steamer  which  sailed  on  the  20th 
of  August  for  Aspinwall. 

"The  members  of  the  expedition  were  assembled  in 
San  Francisco  in  the  middle  of  October.  The  interest, 
which  I  would  here  gratefully  acknowledge,  displayed  by 
General  Clarke,  commanding  the  department  of  the  Pa- 
cific, and  by  officers  of  his  staff,  in  furthering  the  neces- 
sary preparations,  enabled  these  to  be  soon  completed. 
The  party  was  divided  into  three  detachments.  One  of 
them,  in  charge  of  Dr.  Newberry,  started  on  the  28th 
of  October  in  the  coast  steamer  at  San  Diego,  at  which 
place  some  mules  were  to  be  procured  and  taken  across 


116  OUR  UNITED  STATES 

the  desert  to  Fort  Yuma.  A  second  detachment,  in 
charge  of  Mr.  Taylor,  went  by  the  same  steamer  to  San 
Pedro,  from  whence  they  were  to  repair  to  Fort  Tejon, 
collect  the  remainder  of  the  animals,  and  cross  also  to 
Fort  Yuma.  Mr.  Carroll  and  myself,  with  eight  men, 
were  to  go  by  sea  to  the  head  of  the  Gulf  of  California, 
there  put  the  steamboat  together,  ascend  the  Colorado 
to  Fort  Yuma,  and  join  the  rest  of  the  party.  Lieuten- 
ant Tipton,  3rd  artillery,  and  twenty-five  men,  to  be  taken 
from  the  companies  at  Fort  Yuma,  were  detailed  by  Gen- 
eral Clarke  as  an  escort  to  the  expedition.  It  was  on 
the  1st  day  of  November,  1857,  that  I  sailed  from  San 
Francisco,  for  the  mouth  of  the  Colorado,  in  the  Mon- 
terey, a  schooner  of  120  tons  burden,  employed  to  carry 
supplies  to  the  head  of  the  Gulf,  for  transmission  to  the 
garrison  at  Fort  Yuma." 

On  the  28th  of  the  same  month  the  near  approach  to 
the  Colorado  River  was  announced  and  entering  its 
mouth,  a  search  was  made  for  a  suitable  landing  place. 
Before  this  was  finally  chosen,  a  peculiar  phenomenon 
was  witnessed,  which  occurs  in  but  a  few  places  in  the 
world. 

"About  nine  o'clock,  while  the  tide  was  still  running 
out  rapidly,  we  heard,  from  the  direction  of  the  Gulf,  a 
deep,  booming  sound,  like  the  noise  of  a  distant  water- 
fall. Every  moment  it  became  louder  and  nearer,  and 
in  half  an  hour  a  great  wave,  several  feet  in  height,  could 
be  distinctly  seen  flashing  and  sparkling  in  the  moon- 
light, extending  from  one  bank  to  the  other,  and  advanc- 
ing swiftly  upon  us.  While  it  was  only  a.  few  hundred 
yards  distant,  the  ebb  tide  continued  to  flow  by  at  a  rate 
of  three  miles  an  hour.  A  point  of  land  and  an  exposed 
bar  close  under  our  lee  broke  the  wave  into  several  long 
swells,  and  as  these  met  the  ebb,  the  broad  sheet  around 


ARMY  117 

us  boiled  up  and  foamed  like  the  surface  of  a  caldron, 
and  then,  with  scarcely  a  moment  of  slack  water,  the 
whole  went  whirling  by  in  the  opposite  direction.  In  a 
few  moments  the  low  rollers  had  passed  the  island  and 
united  again  in  a  single  bank  of  water,  which  swept  up 
the  narrowing  channel  with  the  thunder  of  a  cataract.  At 
a  turn  not  far  distant  it  disappeared  from  view,  but  for 
a  long  time,  in  the  stillness  of  the  night,  the  roaring  of 
the  huge  mass  could  be  heard  reverberating  among  the 
windings  of  the  river,  till  at  last  it  became  faint  and  lost 
in  the  distance.  This  singular  phenomenon  is  called  a 
'bore/  it  occurs  here  only  at  the  highest  spring  tides,  and 
is  due  to  the  formation  of  the  banks,  the  rapid  rise  of  the 
water  and  the  swiftness  of  the  current.  In  the  course  of 
four  or  five  hours  the  river  falls  about  thirty  feet,  and 
even  at  the  last  moment  of  the  ebb  runs  with  considerable 
velocity.  As  the  torrent  suddenly  encounters  the  flood 
crowding  up  the  narrowing  channel,  it  is  banked  up  and 
rebounds  in  a  single  immense  wave  that  ascends  for  many 
miles.  In  very  shallow  places,  where  the  rush  is  suddenly 
checked,  it  sometimes  rises  to  a  height  of  ten  or  twelve 
feet.  When  broken  by  an  island  it  soon  reunites.  A 
vessel  at  anchor,  exposed  to  its  full  influence,  would  incur 
a  great  risk  of  being  dragged  from  her  moorings  and 
swept  along  till  brought  up  by  bank  or  shoal. 

"To-day  (Dec.  2nd)  Mr.  Booker,  one  of  my  assistants, 
came  down  in  a  skiff  from  Fort  Yuma,  bringing  with  him 
our  letters  and  papers.  He  had  left  the  fort  on  the  29th 
and  had  expected  to  join  us  on  the  ebb  of  last  night,  but 
was  caught  by  the  flood  before  he  could  reach  our  posi- 
tion and  came  near  being  swamped  by  the  'bore,'  having 
been  barely  able  to  run  his  boat  ashore  in  time  to  escape. 
He  reports  the  safe  arrival  at  Fort  Yuma  of  the  party 
from  San  Diego." 


118          OUR  UNITED  STATES 

By  December  21st  the  final  departure  of  the  party 
from  Robinson's  landing  at  the  mouth  of  the  Colorado, 
where  the  Explorer  had  been  put  together  with  con- 
siderable difficulty,  was  heralded  with  joy  and  the  first 
camp  was  made  at  Cocopa  village. 

The  different  detachments  of  the  party  united  at  Fort 
Yuma.  This  fort  is  situated  on  the  west  side  of  the  river, 
"on  the  top  of  a  gravelly  spur  that  extends  with  a  steep 
bluff  to  the  edge  of  the  stream.  A  corresponding  preci- 
pice upon  the  opposite  side  forms,  with  the  other,  a  gate 
through  which  the  united  waters  of  the  Gila  and  the 
Colorado  flow  in  a  comparatively  narrow  bed.  The 
mouth  of  the  Gila  is  just  above.  The  southern  emigrant 
route  to  California  crosses  the  river  at  this  place.  For 
ten  or  fifteen  miles  north  and  south  the  valley  is  inhabited 
by  Yuma  Indians,  a  few  years  ago  the  most  powerful  and 
warlike  tribe.  Opposite  the  fort  an  anticipated  town  has 
been  located  and  denominated  Colorado  City.  At  pres- 
ent there  are  but  a  few  straggling  buildings,  the  princi- 
pal of  which  are  a  store,  blacksmith's  shop,  and  tavern. 

"Fort  Yuma  is  not  a  place  to  inspire  one  with  regret  at 
leaving.  The  barrenness  of  the  surrounding  region,  the 
intense  heat  of  its  Summer  climate,  and  its  loneliness  and 
isolation  have  caused  it  to  be  regarded  as  the  Botany  Bay 
of  military  stations.  Its  establishment,  however,  has 
brought  into  entire  subjection  the  Yuma  Indians,  who 
had  been  a  scourge  to  their  neighbors  and  to  California 
emigrants.  They  are  a  fierce  and  cruel  tribe  but  a  much 
finer  race,  physically  than  the  Cocopas.  At  present  they 
are  in  a  state  of  much  excitement.  There  is  a  settlement 
of  Mormons  not  far  from  the  Colorado,  a  few  hundred 
miles  above,  and  it  is  rumored  that  some  of  that  people 
have  been  among  the  upper  tribes  of  Indians,  telling  them 
of  their  difficulties  with  the  other  whites  and  endeavour- 


ARMY  119 

ing  to  secure  their  alliance.  There  is  an  impression 
among  the  Indians  that  the  Mormons  contemplate,  before 
long,  descending  the  Colorado,  which  corresponds  with  a 
rumor  brought  from  the  east  by  the  latest  mail  of  a  pro- 
jected movement  into  Sonora.  The  commanding  officer 
of  the  fort,  Lieutenant  Winder,  a  few  days  ago,  sent 
Lieutenant  White,  with  a  detachment  of  men,  up  the 
river,  with  Captain  Johnston,  to  make  a  reconnaissance 
and  endeavor  to  ascertain  the  truth  of  these  reports. 

"The  fact  that  my  expedition,  just  at  this  time,  is  pre- 
paring to  ascend  the  Colorado,  has  much  exercised  the 
Indians  above,  who  are  jealous  of  any  encroachment  into 
their  territory." 

From  Fort  Yuma,  the  party  made  their  way  to  Mojave 
Canon,  camps  being  made  at  Explorer's  Pass,  Canebrake 
Canon,  Great  Colorado  valley,  Beaver  Island  and  the 
mouth  of  Bill  Williams'  Fork,  which  was  reached 
February  1st.  "The  whole  appearance  of  the  country," 
writes  Lieutenant  Ives,  "indicated  that  we  had  reached 
the  Chemehuevis  valley.  .  .  .  Having  accompanied  in 
1853,  the  expedition  of  Lieutenant  Whipple  to  explore 
for  a  railroad  route  along  the  35th  parallel,  and  having, 
with  that  party,  descended  Bill  Williams'  Fork  to  its  con- 
fluence with  the  Colorado,  I  was  confident  of  the  locality. 
The  mouth  of  the  stream  was  at  that  time,  which  hap- 
pened to  be  in  the  present  month,  February,  about  thirty 
feet  wide,  and  several  feet  deep.  I  now  looked  in  vain 
for  the  creek.  The  outline  of  the  bank,  though  low,  ap- 
peared unbroken,  and  for  a  while  I  was  quite  confounded. 
My  companions  were  of  opinion  that  I  had  made  a  great 
topographical  blunder,  but  I  asked  Captain  Robinson  to 
head  for  the  left  shore, — as  we  approached  the  bank  I 
perceived,  while  closely  scanning  its  outline,  a  small  dent, 
and  after  landing  repaired  to  the  spot,  and  found  a  very 


120  OUR  UNITED  STATES 

narrow  gulley,  through  which  a  feeble  stream  was  trick- 
ling, and  this  was  all  that  was  left  of  Bill  Williams'  Fork. 
The  former  mouth  is  now  overgrown  with  thickets  and 
willow.  .  .  .  The  party  of  Lieutenant  Whipple  contained 
one  hundred  men,  two  hundred  mules,  and  four  "wagons, 
but  the  trail  is  entirely  obliterated.  Not  a  trace,  even  of 
the  wagons,  remain. 

"We  have  now  been  absent  from  Fort  Yuma  for  four 
weeks  and  have  but  two  weeks'  rations  left.  Should  the 
pack  train  meet  with  detention  we  should  be  on  short  al- 
lowance, and  unlike  a  land  party,  have  no  mules  to  fall 
back  upon.  I  have  been  anxious  for  some  time  to  in- 
crease the  stock  of  provisions  by  trading  with  the  In- 
dians, and  took  advantage  of  the  chief's  presence  to  open 
negotiation  upon  the  subject.  He  promised  before  he 
left  that  evening  that  his  people  should  bring  some  beans 
and  corn  to  trade  for  manta  and  beads.  Last  evening 
about  two  dozen  brought  baskets  and  earthern  bowls  of 
corn  and  beans.  I  saw  that  they  had  come  prepared 
for  a  long  haggling,  and  I  made  them  place  their  bur- 
dens in  a  row  on  some  boards  that  were  laid  out  for 
the  purpose ;  asking  each  in  turn  whether  he  preferred 
beads  or  manta.  I  placed  what  I  thought  a  fair  amount 
of  the  desired  article  opposite  to  the  proper  heap  of  pro- 
visions. The  whole  tribe  had  crowded  around  to  look 
on,  and  their  amusement  during  this  performance  was 
extreme.  Every  sharp  face  expanded  into  a  grin  as  I 
weighed  the  different  piles  in  succession  in  my  hand,  and 
gravely  estimated  their  contents,  and  when  the  appor- 
tionment being  over,  I  directed  two  of  my  men  to  bag 
the  corn  and  beans,  and  coolly  walked  away,  the  delight 
of  the  bystanders,  at  the  summary  method  of  complet- 
ing the  bargain,  reached  the  climax  and  they  fairly 
screamed  with  laughter.  A  few  of  the  traders  seemed 


ARMY  121 

not  quite  to  comprehend  why  they  should  have  had  so 
little  to  say  in  the  matter,  but  having  been  really  well 
recompensed,  according  to  their  ideas  of  things,  the 
tariff  of  prices  was  established,  and  this  morning  when 
fresh  supplies  were  brought,  they  received  the  same  rate 
of  payment  without  question.  Mr.  Mollhausen  has  en- 
listed the  services  of  the  children  to  procure  zoological 
specimens,  and  has  obtained,  at  the  cost  of  a  few  strings 
of  beads,  several  varieties  of  pouched  mice  and  lizards. 
They  think  he  eats  them,  and  are  delighted  that  his  eccen- 
tric appetite  can  be  gratified  with  so  much  ease  and  profit 
to  themselves." 

Lieutenant  Ives  continued  the  journey  through  the 
Mojave  Valley,  at  this  season,  early  February,  presenting 
an  appearance  so  lovely  in  its  Spring  verdure  as  to  arouse 
expressions  of  admiration  and  delight.  Now  and  again 
the  Mojave  Indians  were  encountered  and  the  friendly 
intercourse  of  trade  established,  through  which  the  party 
were  able  to  study  the  native  characteristics  and  estab- 
lish a  feeling  of  confidence  in  behalf  of  the  whites.  One 
of  these  parleys  Lieutenant  Ives  describes  as  follows : 

"A  few  miles  from  camp  we  descried  an  immense 
throng  of  Indians  standing  upon  an  open  meadow,  and 
Captain  informed  me  that  the  chief  Jose  was  awaiting, 
with  his  warriors,  our  approach.  As  there  was  good 
wooding  the  place  nearby,  1  determined  to  stop  and  have 
an  interview,  and,  landing,  sent  him  word  that  I  was 
ready  to  see  him.  In  a  few  moments  he  marched  up 
with  dignity,  his  tribe  following  in  single  file,  the  leader 
bearing  a  dish  of  cooked  beans.  A  kind  of  crier  walked 
a  dozen  paces  in  front  to  disperse  from  around  the  spot 
where  I  was  standing  the  women,  children  and  dogs. 
Jose  is  advanced  in  years,  and  has  rather  a  noble  counten- 
ance, which,  in  honor  to  the  occasion,  was  painted  per- 


122  OUR  UNITED  STATES 

fectly  black,  excepting  a  red  stripe  from  the  top  of  his 
forehead,  down  the  bridge  of  his  nose,  to  his  chin.  There 
was,  in  the  first  place,  a  general  smoke  at  my  expense, 
followed  by  a  long  conference.  I  tried  to  make  him 
comprehend  that  we  were  on  a  peaceful  mission,  that  I 
had  a  great  esteem  for  him  personally;  and  that  I  had 
certain  things  to  ask  him,  viz. :  that  he  should  have  pro- 
visions brought  in  to  be  traded  for ;  should  never  permit 
any  of  his  tribe  to  come  to  our  camp  after  sunset;  should 
send  guides  to  conduct  Lieutenant  Tipton  and  train  up 
the  river  by  the  best  route;  and  should  at  once  detail 
an  Indian  to  carry  a  package  to  Fort  Yuma  and  bring  a 
return  package  to  us.  In  return,  his  people  should  be 
well  paid  for  their  provisions  and  services,  and  he  him- 
self for  his  trouble. 

"My  address,  which  differed  from  any  speech  ever  yet 
made  to  a  band  of  Indians  since  the  formation  of  our 
government — inasmuch  as  it  contained  nothing  about  the 
'Great  Father  at  Washington' — was  at  last  duly  com- 
prehended by  Jose  and  by  the  crowd  that  were  seated 
around.  It  was  difficult  to  satisfy  them  about  the  expedi- 
tion; they  could  not  understand  why  I  should  come  up 
the  river  with  a  steamboat  and  go  directly  back  again, 
nor  why  it  was  necessary  to  keep  up  a  communication 
with  Fort  Yuma.  I  endeavored  to  explain  these  suspi- 
cious circumstances,  and  apparently  succeeded,  for  Jose 
said  that  my  wishes  should  be  gratified,  and  that  he  would 
visit  camp  at  evening,  and  meanwhile  make  the  necessary 
arrangements  to  provide  a  messenger.  I  invited  him  to 
go  with  me  on  the  steamboat;  but  he  declined,  and  his 
friends  appeared  to  think  that  he  had  done  a  prudent 
thing. 

"All  this  occupied  some  time,  and  involved  a  great 
deal  of  gesticulation  and  intricate  pantomime,  which,  even 


ARMY  123 

with  interpreters,  I  find  it  convenient  to  have  recourse  to. 
Oral  communication,  under  existing  circumstances,  is  a 
complicated  process.  I  have  to  deliver  my  message  to 
Mr.  Bielawski,  who  puts  it  into  indifferent  Spanish  for 
the  benefit  of  Mariano,  whose  knowledge  of  that  language 
is  slight ;  when  Mariano  has  caught  the  idea  he  imparts 
it  in  the  Yuma  tongue,  with  which  he  is  not  altogether 
conversant,  to  Captain,  who,  in  turn,  puts  it  into  the 
Mojave  vernacular.  What  changes  my  remarks  have 
undergone  during  these  different  stages  I  shall  never 
know,  but  I  observe  that  they  are  sometimes  received  by 
the  Mojaves  with  an  astonishment  and  bewilderment  that 
the  original  sense  does  not  at  all  warrant." 

By  March  8th  the  Explorer  had  safely  navigated  the 
Colorado  River  over  shoals,  rapids  and  through  narrow 
gorges,  to  the  mouth  of  the  Black  Canon.  Here 
rumors  were  received  to  the  effect  that  unfriendly 
Paiutes  had  threatened  the  destruction  of  the  party. 
The  arrival  of  the  pack  train  now  became  a  subject  of 
constant  anxiety  as  the  supplies  of  the  party  were  exceed- 
ingly low  and  the  diet  of  corn  and  beans  purchased  from 
the  Indians,  upon  which  the  party  had  subsisted  for  the 
past  two  or  three  weeks,  without  salt  or  hot  coffee  to 
make  it  palatable,  was  beginning  to  tell  severely  upon  the 
general  health. 

The  exploration  of  the  Black  Canon  was  undertaken 
by  Lieutenant  Ives,  the  Captain,  and  mate  in  a  small 
skiff;  a  bucketful  of  corn  and  beans,  three  pairs  of 
blankets,  a  compass,  and  a  sextant  and  chronometer  con- 
stituted the  equipment.  The  danger  and  difficulty  of 
ascending  the  rapid  called  for  the  constant  labor  and  cool 
judgment  of  the  party. 

"We  had  proceeded  a  quarter  of  a  mile,  and  had  just 
rounded  the  first  bend,  when  one  of  the  sculls  snapped, 


124  OUR  UNITED  STATES 

reducing  by  half  our  motive  power.  In  a  few  minutes, 
having  passed  what  may  be  called  the  outworks  of  the 
range,  we  fairly  entered  its  gigantic  precincts,  the  walls 
were  perpendicular,  and  more  than  double  the  height  of 
the  Mojave  Mountains,  rising  in  many  places,  sheer  from 
the  water,  for  over  a  thousand  feet.  The  naked  rocks 
presented,  in  lieu  of  the  brilliant  tints  that  had  illuminated 
the  sides  of  the  lower  passes,  a  uniform  sombre  hue,  that 
added  much  to  the  solemn  and  impressive  sublimity  of 
the  place.  The  river  was  narrow  and  devious,  and  each 
turn  disclosed  new  combinations  of  colo,ssal  and  fantastic 
forms,  dimly  seen  in  the  dizzy  heights  overhead,  or 
through  the  sunless  depths  of  the  vista  beyond.  Several 
rapids  followed,  at  short  distances,  all  of  which  would 
be  troublesome  to  pass  at  the  present  depth  of  water. 
The  constant  getting  out  of  the  boat,  and  the  labor  of 
dragging  it  through  these  difficult  places,  made  our  prog- 
ress for  some  miles  exceedingly  tedious  and  fatiguing. 
As  sunset  was  approaching,  we  came  to  a  nook  in  the 
side  of  the  canon,  four  miles  above  the  Roaring  Rapid, 
where  a  patch  of  gravel  and  a  few  pieces  of  driftwood, 
lodged  upon  rocks,  offered  a  tolerable  camping  place,  and 
we  hauled  the  skiff  upon  the  shingle,  and  stopped  for  the 
night.  There  was  no  need  of  keeping  a  watch,  with  two 
grim  lines  of  sentinels  a  thousand  feet  high  guarding  our 
camp.  Even  though  we  could  have  been  seen  from  the 
verge  of  the  cliff  above,  our  position  was  totally  inac- 
cessible. 

"Darkness  supervened  with  surprising  suddenness. 
Pall  after  pall  of  shade  fell,  as  it  were,  in  clouds,  upon  the 
deep  recesses  about  us.  The  line  of  light,  through  the 
opening  above,  at  last  became  blurred  and  indistinct,  and, 
save  the  dull  red  glare  of  the  camp  fire,  all  was  en- 
veloped in  a  murky  gloom.  Soon  the  narrow  belt  again 


ARMY  125 

brightened,  as  the  rays  of  the  moon  reached  the  sum- 
mits of  the  mountains.  Gazing  far  upward  upon  the 
edges  of  the  overhanging  walls,  we  witnessed  the  gradual 
illumination.  A  few  isolated  turrets  and  pinnacles  first 
appeared  in  strong  relief  upon  the  blue  band  of  the 
heavens.  As  the  silvery  light  descended,  and  fell  upon 
the  opposite  crest  of  the  abyss,  strange  and  uncouth 
shapes  seemed  to  start  out,  all  sparkling  and  blinking  in 
the  light,  and  to  be  peering  over  at  us  as  we  lay  watching 
them  from  the  bottom  of  the  profound  chasm. 

"This  morning,  as  soon  as  light  permitted,  we  were 
again  upon  the  way.  The  canon  continued  increasing  in 
size  and  magnificence.  Wherever  the  river  makes  a  turn 
the  entire  panorama  changes,  and  one  startling  novelty 
after  another  appears  and  disappears  with  bewildering 
rapidity.  Stately  facades,  august  cathedrals,  amphithe- 
atres, rotundas,  castellated  walls,  and  rows  of  time-stained 
ruins,  surmounted  by  every  form  of  tower,  minaret,  dome, 
and  spire,  have  been  moulded  from  the  cyclopean  masses 
of  rock  that  form  the  mighty  defile.  The  solitude,  the 
stillness,  the  subdued  light,  and  the  vastness  of  every  sur- 
rounding object,  produce  an  impression  of  awe  that  ulti- 
mately becomes  almost  painful.  As  hour  after  hour 
passed,  we  began  to  look  anxiously  ahead  for  some  sign 
of  an  outlet  from  the  range,  but  the  declining  day  brought 
only  fresh  piles  of  mountains,  higher,  apparently,  than 
any  before  seen. 

"A  mile  above  the  canon  the  river  swept  the  base  of  a 
high  hill,  with  salient  angles,  like  the  bastions  of  a  fort. 
At  the  base  was  a  little  ravine,  which  offered  a  camping 
place  that  would  be  sheltered  from  observation,  and  we 
drew  the  skiff  out  of  the  water,  determining  not  to  pro- 
ceed any  further  until  to-morrow.  Leaving  the  mate  to 
take  charge  of  the  boat,  the  Captain  and  myself  ascended 


126  OUR  UNITED  STATES 

the  hill,  which  is  over  a  thousand  feet  high.  A  scene  of 
barren  and  desolate  confusion  was  spread  before  us.  We 
seemed  to  have  reached  the  focus  or  culminating  point  of 
the  volcanic  disturbances  that  have  left  their  traces  over 
the  whole  region  south.  In  almost  every  direction  were 
hills  and  mountains  heaped  together  without  any  apparent 
system  or  order.  A  small  open  area  intervened  between 
camp  and  a  range  to  the  north,  and  we  could  trace  the 
course  of  the  river  as  it  wound  towards  the  east,  form- 
ing the  Great  Bend.  In  the  direction  of  the  Mormon 
road  to  Utah,  which  is  but  twenty  miles  distant,  the  coun- 
try looked  less  broken,  and  it  was  evident  that  there 
would  be  no  difficulty  in  opening  a  wagon  communication 
between  the  road  and  the  river. 

"Not  a  trace  of  vegetation  could  be  discovered,  but  the 
glaring  monotony  of  the  rocks  was  somewhat  relieved 
by  grotesque  and  fanciful  varieties  of  coloring.  The 
great  towers  that  formed  the  northern  gateway  of  the 
canon  were  striped  with  crimson  and  yellow  bands;  the 
gravel  bluffs  bordering  the  river  exhibited  brilliant  al- 
ternations of  the  same  hues,  and  not  far  to  the  east, 
mingled  with  the  gray  summits,  were  two  or  three  hills, 
altogether  of  a  blood-red  color,  that  imparted  a  peculiarly 
ghastly  air  to  the  scene. 

"The  approach  of  darkness  stopped  further  observa- 
tions, and  we  descended  to  camp,  having  first  taken  a  good 
look,  in  every  direction,  for  the  smoke  of  Indian  camp 
fires,  but  without  discovering  any.  In  making  the  six- 
teen miles  from  last  night's  bivouac,  we  have  had  to 
labor  hard  for  thirteen  hours,  stemming  the  strong  cur- 
rent, and  crossing  the  numerous  rapids,  and  being  thor- 
oughly exhausted,  depend  for  security  to-night  more  upon 
our  concealed  position  than  upon  any  vigilance  that  is 
likely  to  be  exhibited." 


ARMY  127 

The  following  day,  March  12th,  after  pursuing  the 
journey  a  few  miles,  Lieutenant  Ives  determined  not  to 
try  to  ascend  the  Colorado  any  further,  and  the  descent  of 
the  river  was  accomplished  with  greater  ease  than  the 
journey  up.  Upon  reaching  the  Explorer,  the  first 
question  asked  was  if  any  news  had  been  received  from 
the  long  expected  pack  train,  but  receiving  an  unfavor- 
able reply,  Lieutenant  Ives  decided  to  return  at  once,  and 
preparations  were  accordingly  begun  in  all  haste  for  a 
descent  of  the  river  the  following  morning. 

At  sunset,  one  of  the  Indian  runners,  who  had  been 
despatched  to  Fort  Yuma  some  time  previously,  returned 
to  the  party  with  the  information  that  he  had  passed  the 
pack  train  somewhere  in  the  mountains  below  the  mouth 
of  Bill  Williams'  Fork.  A  note  from  Lieutenant  Tipton, 
dated  March  5th,  informed  Lieutenant  Ives  that  great 
difficulty  in  travel  had  made  the  progress  of  the  pack 
train  very  slow,  but  that  it  was  pushing  forward  as 
rapidly  as  possible.  This  encouraging  news,  and  the  re- 
ceipt of  home  letters  and  news,  with  the  prospect  of  a 
speedy  change  of  diet,  occasioned  general  hilarity  in  camp, 
with  the  result  that  the  Indian  runner  was  loaded  with 
favors  and  gifts. 

The  meeting  with  the  pack  train  occurred  near  the  foot 
of  Pyramid  Canon.  Although  grass  had  been  very  scarce 
and  the  mules  had  suffered  accordingly,  the  pack  train 
had  not  been  seriously  menaced  until  within  a  day  or 
two,  when  the  conduct  of  the  Mojaves  had  become  suspi- 
cious. These  Indians  attempted  to  set  fire  at  night  to  the 
grass  surrounding  the  camp. 

"Lieutenant  Tipton  had  been  strongly  tempted  to  at- 
tack them,  but  felt  reluctant  to  have  any  outbreak  while 
ignorant  of  the  conditions  of  my  party,"  writes  Lieu- 
tenant Ives.  "Two  Yumas,  who  had  acted  as  guides,  had 


128  OUR  UNITED  STATES 

a  talk  with  Mojaves,  and  told  Mr.  Tipton  that  the  Mor- 
mons had  been  endeavoring  in  every  way  to  excite  the 
hostility  of  the  last-mentioned  Indians  against  the  ex- 
pedition, and  had  urged  them  to  commence  an  attack  by 
stampeding  the  animals.  This  statement  coincides  en- 
tirely with  what  Ireteba  and  Mariano  have  repeatedly 
told  me.  I  have  found  these  two  Indians  invariably 
truthful,  and  know  not  what  object  they  could  have  had 
in  manufacturing  a  false  story.  Corroborated  as  it  is  by 
the  Yumas  and  by  many  circumstances  that  have  oc- 
curred, I  hardly  know  how  to  discredit  it,  though  I  feel 
reluctant  to  believe  that  any  white  men  could  be  guilty 
of  such  unprovoked  rascality. 

"I  now  hastened  the  preparations  for  departure,  being 
anxious  to  leave.  A  rupture  with  the  Mojaves  would 
have  seriously  interfered  with  the  progress  of  the  ex- 
pedition. The  land  explorations  would  have  been  de- 
layed and  perhaps  altogether  disconcerted.  With  foes 
on  the  bank,  it  would  have  been  impossible  for  the  steam- 
boat party  to  descend  the  river  without  a  detachment  on 
either  shore  to  defend  them  from  attack,  and  this  would 
have  necessitated  the  return  of  all  the  members  of  the 
expedition  to  Fort  Yuma.  I  now  made  an  almost  equal 
division  of  the  force.  The  officers  of  the  Explorer, 
with  Messrs.  Taylor,  Bielawski,  and  Booker,  half  of  the 
escort,  and  all  but  three  of  my  men,  were  selected  to  go 
back  with  the  boat.  Dr.  Newberry,  Messrs.  Egloffstein, 
Mollhausen,  and  Peacock,  three  laborers,  the  Mexican 
packers,  together  with  twenty  soldiers,  commanded  by 
Lieutenant  Tipton,  composed  the  land  party.  The  notes 
and  collections  were  placed  in  charge  of  Mr.  Taylor,  to 
transport  to  Washington.  The  preparation  of  maps,  re- 
ports, and  letters,  the  division  of  provisions,  and  selec- 
tion of  the  articles  to  be  carried  across  the  plains,  oc- 


ARMY  129 

cupied  a  large  portion  of  the  night.  By  eight  this  morn- 
ing the  steamboat  detachment  was  ready  to  leave,  and 
our  friends  on  the  Explorer  bid  us  good-bye  and  were 
soon  out  of  sight  beyond  a  turn  in  the  river." 

The  land  party  made  their  toilsome  way  by  Meadow 
Creek,  Litgreaves'  Pass,  and  Railroad  Pass  to  Peacock's 
spring,  which  was  reached  the  last  day  of  March.  Leav- 
ing the  Cerbat  basin,  the  course  lay  toward  a  low  point  in 
the  extension  of  the  Agnarius  mountains — another  chain 
almost  parallel  to  the  Black  and  Cerbat  ranges. 

"After  entering  it  the  trail  took  a  sudden  turn  to  the 
north,  in  which  direction  it  continued.  The  sun  was 
very  hot,  and  the  mules,  not  having  had  plentiful  drink 
of  water  for  four  days,  showed  marks  of  distress. 
Ireteba,  at  my  request,  again  went  in  search  of  some 
Haulapais  tractable  enough  to  enlist  for  a  few  days  in 
our  service.  After  an  absence  of  several  hours  he  came 
back  and  reported  that  he  had  discovered  two  who  were 
willing  to  go.  In  a  little  while,  from  the  top  of  a  neigh- 
bouring hill,  a  discordant  screaming  was  heard,  pro- 
ceeding from  two  Indians  who  were  suspiciously  sur- 
veying camp.  It  was  some  time  before  our  Mojaves 
could  persuade  them  to  approach,  and  when  they  did  they 
looked  like  men  who  had  screwed  up  their  courage  to 
face  a  mortal  peril.  They  were  squalid,  wretched-look- 
ing creatures,  with  splay  feet,  large  joints,  and  diminutive 
figures,  but  had  bright  eyes  and  cunning  faces,  and  re- 
sembled a  little  the  Chemehuevis.  Taking  them  into  the 
tent  occupied  by  Lieutenant  Tipton  and  myself,  with 
many  misgivings  as  to  how  ma"ny  varieties  of  animal 
life  were  being  introduced  there,  I  brought  out  some 
pipes  and  tobacco  and  told  Ireteba  to  proceed  with  the 
negotiations. 

"The  conclusion  arrived  at  was  that  they  knew  noth- 


130  OUR  UNITED  STATES 

ing  about  the  country — neither  a  good  road  nor  the  lo- 
calities of  grass  and  water;  that  they  were  out  hunting 
and  had  lost  their  way,  and  had  no  idea  of  the  direc- 
tion even  of  their  own  villages.  This  very  probable  state- 
ment I  correctly  supposed  to  be  a  hint  that  they  were  not 
to  be  approached  empty-handed;  for  when  Ireteba  had 
been  authorized  to  make  a  distinct  offer  of  beads  and 
blankets,  one  of  them  recollected  where  he  was,  and  also 
that  there  were  watering  places  ahead  to  which  he  could 
guide  us. 

"It  was  thought  advisable  to  again  lie  over  for  a  day ; 
and  they  went  away,  agreeing  to  be  in  camp  on  the  day 
but  one  following. 

"A  third  Haulapais  turned  up  this  morning;  he  had 
features  like  a  toad's  and  the  most  villainous  countenance 
I  ever  saw  on  a  human  being.  Mr.  Mullhausen  sug- 
gested that  we  should  take  him  and  preserve  him  in 
alcohol  as  a  zoological  specimen ;  and  at  last  he  be- 
came alarmed  at  the  steadfast  gaze  he  was  attracting, 
and  withdrew  to  the  edge  of  a  rock  overhanging  the 
cook's  fire,  where  he  remained  till  dark,  with  his  eyes 
fixed  in  an  unbroken  stare  upon  the  victuals.  The  Haul- 
apais are  but  a  little  removed  from  the  Diggers.  They 
present  a  remarkable  contrast  to  our  tall  and  athletic 
Mojaves." 

"Big  Canon  of  the  Colorado,  April  3. — The  two  Haul- 
apais preserved  the  credit  of  the  Indian  employes  by  be- 
ing punctual  to  their  engagement,  and  led  off  in  company 
with  the  Mojaves  as  we  ascended  the  ravine  from  Pea- 
cock's spring.  At  the  end  of  ten  miles  the  ridge  of  the 
swell  was  attained,  and  a  splendid  panorama  burst  sud- 
denly into  view.  In  the  foreground  were  low  hills, 
intersected  by  numberless  ravines ;  beyond  these  a  lofty 
line  of  bluffs  marked  the  edge  of  an  immense  canon;  a 


ARMY  131 

wide  gap  was  directly  ahead,  and  through  it  were  be- 
held, to  the  extreme  limit  of  vision,  vast  plateaus,  tower- 
ing one  above  the  other  thousands  of  feet  in  the  air,  the 
long  horizontal  bands  broken  at  intervals  by  wide  and 
profound  abysses,  and  extending,  a  hundred  miles  to  the 
north,  till  the  deep  azure  blue  faded  into  a  light  cerulean 
tint  that  blended  with  the  dome  of  the  heavens.  The 
famous  'Big  Canon*  was  before  us;  and  for  a  long 
time  we  paused  in  wondering  delight,  surveying  this  stu- 
pendous formation  through  which  the  Colorado  and  its 
tributaries  break  their  way. 

"The  Haulapais  were  now  of  great  assistance,  for  the 
ravines  crossed  and  forked  in  intricate  confusion;  even 
Ireteba,  who  had  hitherto  led  the  train,  became  at  a 
loss  how  to  proceed,  and  had  to  put  the  little  Haulapais 
in  front.  The  latter,  being  perfectly  at  home,  conducted 
us  rapidly  down  the  declivity.  The  descent  was  great 
and  the  trail  blind  and  circuitous.  A  few  miles  of  dif- 
ficult travelling  brought  us  into  a  narrow  valley  flanked 
by  steep  and  high  slopes ;  a  sparkling  stream  crossed  its 
centre,  and  gurgling  in  some  tall  grass  nearby  announced 
the  presence  of  a  spring.  This  morning  we  left  the 
valley  and  followed  the  course  of  a  creek  down  a  ravine, 
in  the  bed  of  which  the  water  at  intervals  sank  and 
rose  for  two  or  three  miles,  when  it  altogether  disap- 
peared. The  ravine  soon  attained  the  proportion  of  a 
canon.  The  place  grew  wilder  and  grander.  The  sides 
of  the  tortuous  canon  became  loftier,  and  before  long 
we  were  hemmed  in  by  walls  two  thousand  feet  high. 
The  increasing  magnitude  of  the  collossal  piles  that 
blocked  the  end  of  the  vista,  and  the  corresponding  depth 
and  gloom  of  the  gaping  chasms  into  which  we  were 
plunging,  imparted  an  unearthly  character  to  a  way  that 
might  have  resembled  the  portals  of  the  infernal  regions. 


132  OUR  UNITED  STATES 

Harsh  screams  issuing  from  aerial  recesses  in  the  canon 
sides,  and  apparitions  of  goblin-like  figures  perched  in 
the  rifts  and  hollows  of  the  impending  cliffs,  gave  an  odd 
reality  to  this  impression.  At  short  distances  other  ave- 
nues of  equally  magnificent  proportion  came  in  from  one 
side  or  the  other;  and  no  trail  being  left  on  the  rocky 
pathway,  the  idea  suggested  itself  that  were  the  guides  to 
desert  us  our  experience  might  further  resemble  that  of 
the  dwellers  in  the  unblest  abodes — in  the  difficulty  of 
getting  out. 

"Huts  of  the  rudest  construction,  visible  here  and  there 
in  some  sheltered  niche  or  beneath  a  projecting  rock, 
and  the  sight  of  a  hideous  old  squaw,  staggering  under 
a  bundle  of  fuel,  showed  that  we  had  penetrated  into 
the  domestic  retreats  of  the  Haulapais  nation.  Our  party 
being,  in  all  probability,  the  first  company  of  whites  that 
had  ever  been  seen  by  them,  we  had  anticipated  produc- 
ing a  great  effect,  and  were  a  little  chagrined  when  the 
old  woman,  and  two  or  three  others  of  both  sexes  that 
were  met,  went  by  without  taking  the  slightest  notice  of 
us.  If  pack  trains  had  been  in  the  habit  of  passing 
twenty  times  a  day,  they  could  not  have  manifested  a 
more  complete  indifference. 

"Seventeen  miles  of  this  strange  travel  had  now  been 
accomplished.  The  road  was  becoming  more  difficult, 
and  we  looked  ahead  distrustfully  into  the  dark  and  ap- 
parently interminable  windings,  and  wondered  where  we 
were  to  find  a  camping  place.  At  last  we  struck  a  wide 
branch  canon  coming  in  from  the  south,  and  saw  with 
joyful  surprise  a  beautiful  and  brilliantly  clear  stream  of 
water  gushing  over  a  pebbly  bed  in  the  centre,  and  shoot- 
ing from  between  the  rocks  in  sparkling  jets  and  im- 
mature cascades.  On  either  side  was  an  oasis  of  verdure 
— young  willows  and  a  thick  patch  of  grass.  Camp  was 


ARMY  133 

speedily  formed,  and  men  and  mules  have  had  a  wel- 
come rest  after  their  fatiguing  journey. 

"Camp  69,  Cedar  Forest,  April  5. — A  short  walk  down 
the  bed  of  the  Diamond  river,  on  the  morning  after  we 
had  reached  it,  disclosed  the  famous  Colorado  Canon. 
.  .  .  The  day  was  spent  in  an  examination  of  the 
localities.  This  plateau  formation  has  been  undisturbed 
by  volcanic  action,  and  the  sides  of  the  canon  exhibit 
all  the  series  that  compose  the  table  lands  of  New 
Mexico,  presenting,  perhaps,  the  most  splendid  exposure 
of  stratified  rocks  that  there  is  in  the  world. 

"Pine  forest,  April  10. — Four  miles  from  the  camp  in 
the  Cedar  forest,  were  some  large  pools  of  water  in  a 
rocky  ravine.  The  supply  had  been  derived  from  melting 
snows,  and  the  place  would  be  dry  a  little  later  in  the 
season. 

"The  next  morning  both  the  Haulapais  were  missing. 
They  had  run  away  during  the  night,  taking  with  them  a 
little  flour  and  a  pair  of  blankets.  What  had  frightened 
the  guides  off  we  could  not  imagine.  We  had  now 
entered  a  region  of  pine. 

"The  next  day  an  early  start  was  made.  We  had  to 
select  our  own  way  through  the  forest,  being  for  the 
first  time  without  the  guidance  of  those  who  were  familiar 
with  the  country,  and  what  was  more  important,  in  this 
arid  region,  with  the  whereabouts  of  watering  places. 
The  pine  trees  became  larger  and  the  forest  more  dense 
as  we  proceeded.  A  heavy  gale  roared  among  the 
branches  overhead,  and  about  noon  it  commenced  snow- 
ing. 

"Ascending  to  the  table  land,  we  happened  upon  an 
open  portion  of  the  forest  and  encountered  the  full  vio- 
lence of  the  storm.  Men  and  mules  huddled  together 
under  such  trees  as  afforded  the  best  shelter,  and  waited 


134  OUR  UNITED  STATES 

as  resignedly  as  possible  till  the  fury  of  the  tempest  had 
somewhat  abated.  The  snow  and  the  gale  continued 
nearly  all  of  the  next  day.  The  grass  was  entirely 
covered.  The  animals  had  to  fast  for  twenty- four  hours 
longer,  and  I  thought  that  last  night  would  have  finished 
the  majority  of  them,  but  singularly  enough  not  one  had 
died. 

"Our  altitude  is  very  great, — the  barometer  shows  an 
elevation  of  nearly  seven  thousand  feet. 

"April  12. — A  march  of  twenty  miles  having  been  made, 
and  no  sign  of  water  appearing,  we  had  to  put  up  with 
a  dry  camp.  The  grass  was  miserable,  and  altogether 
the  mules  fared  badly.  During  the  night  the  herders 
v/ere  negligent,  and  at  daybreak  nearly  a  hundred  of  the 
animals  were  missing.  They  had  taken  the  back  trail  for 
the  lagoons,  but  having  started  late  and  travelled  leisurely 
were  overtaken  not  many  miles  from  camp.  The  trip 
did  not  render  them  better  fitted  for  the  day's  journey, 
which  had  to  be  delayed  until  they  were  brought  back 
ten  miles,  conducted  to  the  head  of  a  ravine  down  which 
was  a  well  beaten  Indian  trail.  In  the  course  of  a  few 
miles  we  had  gone  down  into  the  plateau  one  or  two 
thousand  feet.  Still  no  signs  of  water.  The  worn-out 
and  thirsty  beasts  had  begun  to  flag,  when  we  were 
brought  to  a  standstill  by  a  fall  a  hundred  feet  deep  in 
the  bottom  of  the  canon.  At  the  brink  of  the  precipice 
was  an  overhanging  ledge  of  rocks,  from  which  we  could 
look  down  as  into  a  well  upon  the  continuation  of  the 
gorge  far  below.  It  seemed  a  marvel  that  a  trail  should 
be  found  leading  to  a  place  where  there  was  nothing  to 
do  but  return.  A  closer  inspection  showed  that  the  trail 
still  continued  along  the  canon,  traversing  horizontally 
the  face  of  the  right  hand  bluff.  The  slight  indentation 
appeared  like  a  thread  attached  to  the  rocky  wall,  but  a 


ARMY  135 

trial  proved  that  the  path,  though  narrow  and  dizzy,  had 
been  cut  with  some  care  into  the  surface  of  the  cliff,  and 
afforded  a  foothold  level  and  broad  enough  both  for 
men  and  animals.  I  rode  upon  it  first,  and  the  rest  of 
the  party  and  the  train  followed — one  by  one — looking 
very  much  like  a  row  of  insects  crawling  upon  the  side  of 
a  building.  The  bottom  of  the  canon  meanwhile  had 
been  rapidly  descending,  and  there  were  two  or  three 
falls  where  it  dropped  a  hundred  feet  at  a  time,  thus 
greatly  increasing  the  depth  of  the  chasm.  The  change 
had  taken  place  so  gradually  that  I  was  not  sensible  of 
it,  till  glancing  down  the  side  of  my  mule,  I  found  that 
he  was  walking  within  three  inches  of  the  brink  of  a 
sheer  gulf  a  thousand  feet  deep ;  on  the  other  side,  nearly 
touching  my  knee,  was  an  almost  vertical  wall  rising  to 
an  enormous  altitude.  The  sight  made  my  head  swim, 
and  I  dismounted  and  got  ahead  of  the  mule,  a  difficult 
and  delicate  operation,  which  I  was  thankful  to  have 
safely  performed.  A  part  of  the  men  became  so  giddy 
that  they  were  obliged  to  creep  upon  their  hands  and 
knees,  being  unable  to  walk  or  stand.  In  some  places 
there  was  barely  room  to  walk,  and  a  slight  deviation  in 
a  step  would  have  precipitated  one  into  the  frightful 
abyss. 

"After  an  interval  of  uncomfortable  suspense,  the  face 
of  the  rock  made  an  angle,  and  just  beyond  the  turn  was 
a  projection  from  the  main  wall  with  a  surface  fifteen  or 
twenty  yards  square  that  would  afford  a  foothold.  The 
continuation  of  the  wall  was  perfectly  vertical,  so  that 
the  trail  could  no  longer  follow  it,  and  we  found  that  the 
path  descended  the  steep  face  of  the  cliff  to  the  bottom 
of  the  canon.  It  did  not  take  long  to  discover  that  no 
mule  could  accomplish  this  descent,  and  nothing  remained 
but  to  turn  back.  The  jaded  brutes  were  collected  upon 


136          OUR  UNITED  STATES 

this  little  summit  where  they  could  be  turned  around, 
and  then  commenced  to  re-form  for  the  hazardous  jour- 
ney. The  sun  shone  directly  into  the  canon,  and  the 
glare  reflected  from  the  walls  made  the  heat  intolerable. 
The  disappointed  beasts,  now  two  days  without  water, 
with  glassy  eyes  and  protruding  tongues,  plodded  slowly 
along,  uttering  the  most  melancholy  cries.  The  nearest 
water  of  which  we  had  knowledge  was  almost  thirty 
miles  distant. 

"There  was  but  one  chance  of  saving  the  train,  and 
after  reaching  an  open  portion  of  the  ravine,  the  packs 
and  saddles  were  removed,  and  two  or  three  Mexicans 
started  for  the  lagoons  mounted  upon  the  least  exhausted 
animals,  and  driving  the  others  loose  before  them.  It 
was  somewhat  dangerous  to  detach  them  thus  far  from 
the  main  party,  but  there  was  no  help  for  it.  I  gave  in- 
structions to  the  Mexicans  not  to  return  for  a  couple  of 
days.  This  will  give  the  beasts  time  to  rest,  and  afford 
us  an  opportunity  of  exploring  the  trail  beyond  the  preci- 
pice, where  we  had  to  stop. 

"Camp  73,  Colorado  plateau,  April  14. — Lieutenant 
Tipton,  Mr.  Egloffstein,  Mr.  Peacock,  and  myself  with 
a  dozen  men,  formed  the  party  to  explore  the  canon, 
which  from  the  summit  looked  smooth,  was  covered  with 
hills,  thirty  or  forty  feet  high.  ...  At  the  end  of  thirteen 
miles  from  the  precipice  an  obstacle  presented  itself  that 
there  seemed  to  be  no  possibility  of  overcoming.  A 
stone  slab,  reaching  from  one  side  of  the  canon  to  the 
other,  terminated  the  plane  which  we  were  descending. 
Looking  over  the  edge  it  appeared  that  the  next  level 
was  forty  feet  below.  A  spring  of  water  rose  from  the 
bed  of  the  canon  not  far  above,  and  trickled  over  the 
ledge,  forming  a  pretty  cascade.  It  was  supposed  that 
the  Indians  must  have  come  to  this  point  merely  to  pro- 


ARMY  137 

cure  water,  but  this  theory  was  not  altogether  satisfac- 
tory and  we  sat  down  upon  the  rocks  to  discuss  the 
matter. 

"Mr.  Egloffstein  lay  down  by  the  side  of  the  creek, 
and  projecting  his  head  over  the  ledge  to  watch  the  cas- 
cade, discovered  a  solution  of  the  mystery.  Below  the 
shelving  rock,  and  hidden  by  it  and  the  fall,  stood  a  crazy 
looking  ladder,  made  of  rough  sticks  bound  together 
with  thongs  of  bark.  It  was  almost  perpendicular,  and 
rested  upon  a  bed  of  angular  stones.  The  rounds  had 
become  rotten  from  the  incessant  flow  of  water.  Mr. 
Egloffstein,  anxious  to  have  the  first  view  of  what  was 
below,  scrambled  over  the  ledge  and  got  his  feet  upon 
the  upper  round.  Being  a  solid  weight,  he  was  too  much 
for  the  insecure  fabric,  which  commenced  giving  way. 
One  side  fortunately  stood  firm,  and  holding  on  to  this 
with  a  tight  grip,  he  made  a  precipitate  descent.  The 
other  side  and  all  the  rounds  broke  loose  and  accompanied 
him  to  the  bottom  in  a  general  crash,  effectually  cutting 
off  the  communication.  Leaving  us  to  devise  means  of 
getting  him  back  he  ran  to  the  bend  to  explore.  The 
canon  Mr.  Egloffstein  saw  could  not  be  followed  far; 
there  were  cascades  just  below.  He  perceived,  however, 
that  he  was  very  near  to  its  mouth  and  an  Indian  pointed 
out  the  exact  spot  where  it  united  with  the  canon  of  the 
Rio  Colorado. 

"It  now  remained  to  get  Mr.  Egloffstein  back.  The 
slings  upon  the  soldiers'  muskets  were  taken  off  and 
knotted  together,  and  a  line  thus  made  which  reached 
the  bottom.  Whether  it  would  support  his  weight  was 
a  matter  of  experiment.  It  was  a  hard  straight  lift. 
The  ladder  pole  was  left,  and  rendered  great  assistance 
both  to  us  and  the  rope,  and  the  ascent  was  safely  ac- 
complished. 


138  OUR  UNITED  STATES 

"The  examination  being  finished,  it  was  time  to  return. 
On  leaving  camp  we  had  expected  to  be  back  before 
night,  and  we  had  brought  neither  provisions  nor  over- 
coats. .  .  .  Night  came  before  the  foot  of  the  precipice 
where  the  train  had  stopped  was  reached.  It  was  im- 
possible to  distinguish  the  way  in  the  dark,  and  we  had 
to  halt.  After  nightfall,  as  is  always  the  case  in  these 
regions,  it  became  black  and  cold.  The  canon  was  as  dark 
as  a  dungeon.  The  surface  of  the  ground  being  covered 
with  rocks,  a  recumbent  position  was  uncomfortable,  and 
the  rocks  being  interspersed  with  prickly  pear  and  some 
other  varieties  of  cactaccae  it  would  have  been  unwise  to 
walk  about.  The  choice,  therefore,  lay  between  sitting 
down  and  standing  still,  which  two  recreations  we  essayed 
alternately  for  twelve  hours,  that  might  have  been,  from 
the  sensations  of  the  party,  twelve  days.  As  soon  as  it 
was  light  enough  to  see  the  way  we  put  our  stiffened 
limbs  in  motion.  The  summit  once  attained  it  was  but 
five  miles  to  camp,  but  the  violent  exercise  of  ascent, 
coming  after  a  twenty- four  hours'  abstinence  from  food 
and  rest,  and  a  walk  of  more  than  thirty  miles  over  a 
difficult  road,  proved  so  exhausting  that  during  the  last 
stretch,  two  or  three  of  the  men  broke  down,  and  had 
to  have  coffee  and  food  sent  back  to  them  before  they 
could  proceed. 

"Camp  74,  Forest  lagoons,  April  18. — Our  ever  recon- 
noitering  parties  have  now  been  in  all  directions,  and 
everywhere  have  been  headed  off  by  impassable  obstacles. 
.  .  .  The  positions  of  the  main  water-courses  have  been 
determined  with  considerable  accuracy.  .  .  .  The  lagoons 
by  the  side  of  which  we  are  encamped  furnish,  as  far  as 
we  have  been  able  to  discover,  the  only  accessible  water- 
ing place  west  of  the  mouth  of  the  Diamond  river.  Dur- 
ing the  Summer  it  is  probable  they  are  dry,  and  that  no 


ARMY  139 

water  exists  upon  the  whole  of  the  Colorado  plateau. 
We  start  for  the  south  with  some  anxiety,  not  knowing 
how  long  it  may  be  before  water  will  be  again  met 
with.  .  .  . 

"The  mules,  ignorant  of  what  was  before  them,  refused, 
as  mules  often  do,  to  drink  on  the  morning  before  leaving 
camp.  A  southeast  course  was  followed.  As  the  day 
advanced  the  heat  became  more  oppressive,  and  a  tract 
was  entered  where,  the  soil  being  loose  and  porous,  the 
animals  sank  to  their  fetlocks  at  every  step. 

"Darkness  came  on  before  we  had  c/iiite  accomplished 
the  descent  upon  the  opposite  side,  and  it  was  necessary  to 
camp,  not  only  without  water,  but  on  a  very  short  allow- 
ance of  grass.  In  spite  of  all  the  precautions  some  of 
the  mules  strayed,  and  while  hunting  for  them  a  man  got 
lost.  By  the  time  all  were  found  the  sun  was  high  in  the 
heaven,  and  shining  with  even  more  fervor  than  on  the 
previous  day.  ...  At  the  end  of  ten  miles  of  weary 
travel  a  steep  ascent  brought  us  to  the  summit  of  a  table 
that  overlooked  the  country  towards  the  south  for  a 
hundred  miles.  No  place  could  be  descried,  far  or  near, 
that  gave  a  promise  of  containing  water.  A  more 
frightfully  arid  region  probably  does  not  exist  upon  the 
face  of  the  earth.  The  wretched  and  broken  down  ani- 
mals, now  forty-eight  hours  without  drinking,  and  that, 
too,  while  making  long  marches  under  a  burning  sun, 
were  brought  to  a  halt.  They  had  to  be  tightly  hobbled, 
for,  in  their  frantic  desire  for  water,  nothing  else  could 
have  restrained  them  from  rushing  back  to  the  only  place 
where  they  were  certain  of  finding  it.  Too  thirsty  to 
graze,  they  stood  all  night  about  camp,  filling  the  air 
with  distressing  cries.  This  morning  the  weakened 
brutes  staggered  under  their  packs  as  though  they  were 
drunk,  and  their  dismal  moaning  portended  a  speedy  solu- 


140  OUR  UNITED  STATES 

tion  of  their  troubles  should  water  not  soon  be  found. 
For  the  third  time  the  sun  rose  hot  and  glaring,  and  as 
the  great  globe  of  fire  mounted  the  heavens  its  rays 
seemed  to  burn  the  brain.  In  this  hot,  dry  atmosphere, 
when  exercise  is  taken,  the  evaporation  from  the  system 
is  very  great,  and  unless  this  is  compensated  for,  the 
body  soon  becomes  intensely  parched.  The  men  now 
suffered  as  well  as  the  beasts.  Mile  after  mile  the  dreary 
ride  continued,  and  the  flagging  pace  of  the  mules  showed 
that  they  were  on  the  eve  of  exhaustion.  .  .  . 

"Our  hopes  rose  upon  seeing  surface  not  composed  of 
loose  pebbles  or  porous  earth,  and  we  urged  the  fainting 
animals  down  the  hill.  Green  grass  carpeted  the  bottom 
of  the  ravine,  a  few  hundred  yards  from  its  mouth  a  pro- 
jecting ledge  threw  a  deep  cool  shadow  over  an  extensive 
pool  of  clear,  delicious  looking  water.  The  crazy  beasts 
crowding  and  huddling  upon  one  another,  plunged  into 
the  pond  and  drank  until  they  were  ready  to  burst.  A 
few  yards  above  smaller  basins  of  rock  filled  with  the 
delightful  beverage  furnished  an  ample  supply  for  the 
men." 

In  conclusion  Lieutenant  Ives  remarks : 

"The  Navajoes  at  this  time  began  to  exhibit  symptoms 
of  disaffection.  Our  arrival  at  Fort  Defiance  was  none 
too  soon.  Only  a  fortnight  afterwards  hostilities  broke 
out  between  the  tribe  and  the  United  States  troops,  which 
have  seriously  imperilled  our  safety  had  they  commenced 
while  we  were  passing  through  the  Navajo  territory. 
As  it  was,  we  reached  the  settlements  upon  the  Rio 
Grande  without  interruption.  All  of  the  party,  excepting 
myself,  continued  on  towards  the  east  crossing  the  plains 
from  Santa  Fe  to  Fort  Leavenworth,  and  repairing 
thence  to  the  seaboard.  It  was  necessary  for  me  to  dis- 
pose of  the  steamer  and  certain  property  at  Fort  Yuma, 


ARMY  141 

and  to  settle  the  accounts  of  some  members  of  the  ex- 
pedition who  had  gone  back  in  the  boat,  and  I  accord- 
ingly took  the  stage  from  Santa  Fe  to  El  Paso,  and  from 
that  place  followed  the  southern  overland  mail  route  to 
San  Diego.  After  disposing  of  the  little  boat  that  had 
done  us  such  good  service,  to  the  transportation  com- 
pany at  the  fort,  I  bid  farewell  to  Captain  Robinson  and 
the  Colorado,  and  proceeding  to  San  Francisco  took  the 
first  steamer  for  New  York." 


CHAPTER  X 
BUILDING  OF  THE  TRANSCONTINENTAL   RAILROADS 

To  join  the  great  Pacific  coast  with  its  rapidly  increas- 
ing interests  and  population,  with  the  East  by  railroad 
transportation  became  a  vital  question  to  the  welfare  of 
the  Government.  As  early  as  1836,  a  public  meeting  had 
been  called  by  John  Plumbe,  a  civil  engineer  of  Dubuque, 
Iowa,  to  consider  the  project  of  such  a  railroad.  Fre- 
mont's valuable  explorations  had  stimulated  public  inter- 
est and  during  the  years  from  1840  to  1850  the  question 
was  repeatedly  brought  to  the  attention  of  the  Govern- 
ment. Shortly  before  the  close  of  the  session  in  March, 
1853,  the  first  practical  step  was  taken.  This  measure 
was  the  passage  of  the  Salmon  P.  Chase  bill  appropriating 
$150,000  for  the  exploration  of  various  routes  along 
which  it  was. supposed  a  railroad  might  be  constructed 
west  of  the  Mississippi  River  to  the  Pacific  Ocean. 

Under  the  supervision  of  the  War  Department,  Captain 
Humphreys  being  in  charge  of  the  Pacific  Railroad 
Office,  six  parties  were  fitted  out  and  placed  in  the  field. 
They  were  thoroughly  equipped  for  scientific  labors. 
The  Smithsonian  Institution  had  charge  of  the  direction 
of  the  natural  history  apparatus,  and  furnished  the  neces- 
sary instruction  as  to  the  objects  most  important  to  be 
collected. 

The  parties  organized  were  as  follows: 

1.  Line  of  the  47th  parallel. — This  portion  of  the  sur- 
142 


ARMY  143 

vey  placed  under  the  command  of  Governor  I.  I.  Stevens, 
was  extensive  in  its  organization,  and  first  in  the  field. 
It  was  divided  into  two  quite  distinct  parties,  one  pro- 
ceeding across  the  country  to  the  Pacific,  the  other  start- 
ing at  the  Columbia  River  and  moving  towards  the  east. 
The  first  division,  immediately  in  charge  of  Governor 
Stevens,  left  St.  Paul  (where  it  was  principally  fitted  out) 
on  the  8th  of  June,  1853,  and  proceeded  directly  to  Fort 
Union,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Yellowstone.  Here  it  was 
joined  by  Lieutenant  Donelson,  who  had  embarked  in 
the  Fur  Company's  boat  at  St.  Louis.  From  Fort  Union 
the  party  proceeded  along  the  Missouri  to  the  mouth  of 
Milk  River,  and  up  this  stream  to  Fort  Benten;  thence 
across  the  mountains  to  the  Mission  of  St.  Mary's ;  thence 
to  Fort  Colville,  by  the  way  of  the  Coeur  d'  Alene ;  and 
finally  to  Vancouver  and  Olympia.  Collateral  lines  were 
also  traversed  at  the  same  or  different  times  by  Lieu- 
tenant Mullan,  Lieutenant  Donelson,  Lieutenant  Saxton, 
and  others.  The  western  division  of  the  line,  under 
command  of  Captain  G.  B.  McClellan,  proceeded  from 
New  York  to  San  Francisco;  thence  to  Vancouver,  and 
next  explored  both  sides  of  the  Cascade  Mountains  for 
some  distance  northward.  The  party  met  Governor 
Stevens  at  Fort  Colville,  and  continued  thence  to  the 
northern  boundary  line.  The  main  party,  under  Gov- 
ernor Stevens,  was  accompanied  by  Dr.  George  Suckley, 
United  States  Army,  as  surgeon  and  naturalist,  although 
collections  were  also  made  by  Lieutenants  Donelson  and 
Mullan. 

2.  Line  of  the  38th,  39th,  and  41st  parallels.— This 
party  was  first  organized  under  command  of  Captain 
J.  W.  Gunnison  and  Captain  E.  G.  Beckwith.  It  started 
from  Camp  Shawnee  Reservation  on  the  20th  of  June, 
and  proceeded  up  the  Sandy  Hill  fork  of  the  Kansas; 


144          OUR  UNITED  STATES 

thence  across  to  the  Arkansas  and  up  to  the  Apispah. 
They  next  passed  over  to  the  Trincheres,  next  to  the 
Huerfano,  and  over  the  mountains  to  Fort  Massachusetts, 
by  the  El  Sangre  de  Cristo  pass.  They  next  went 
through  the  Coochetope  pass  to  Grand  River  of  the 
Colorado,  and  finally,  by  way  of  the  Wahsatch  pass 
nearly  to  Sevier  lake.  Here  a  portion  of  the  party,  in- 
cluding Captain  Gunnison,  Mr.  Kern,  and  Mr.  Kreuz- 
feldt,  was  surprised  by  a  band  of  Pah-Utahs  and  all 
killed.  The  command  of  the  expedition  then  devolved 
upon  Captain  Beckwith,  who  proceeded  to  Salt  Lake 
City,  and  thence  in  the  Spring  of  1854,  by  way  of  Fort 
Reading,  to  California,  and  back  to  Washington. 

3.  Line  of  the  35th  parallel,  under  Captain  A.  W. 
Whipple. — This   party  was  almost   as   extensive   in   its 
organization    and    operations    as    that    under    Governor 
Stevens.     For  a  time  there  were  two  divisions ;  one  under 
Captain  Whipple,  with  Mr.  H.  B.  Mollhausen  as  artist 
and  zoologist  and  Doctor  Bigelow,  surgeon  and  botanist; 
the  other  under  Lieutenant  J.  C.  Ives,  accompanied  by 
Dr.    C.   B.   Kennedy,   as   surgeon  and  naturalist.     The 
party  under  Captain  Whipple  went   from   Fort   Smith 
mainly  up  the  Arkansas  River,  and  across  the  Llano 
Estacada,  via  Anton   Chico,  to  Albuquerque.     Here  it 
was  met  by  Lieutenant  Ives'  division,  which  had  pro- 
ceeded by  way  of  New  Orleans,  Indianola,  and  San  An- 
tonio to  El  Paso,  by  the  usual  mail  route,  and  thence 
north  to  Albuquerque.     From  Albuquerque  the  united 
party  went  to  the  Little  Colorado  by  way  of  Zuni ;  next, 
by  way  of  the  San  Francisco  mountains  to  Bill  Williams' 
Fork;  down  this  stream  to  the  Colorado;  then  up  the 
Mohave,  and  across  to  San  Francisco. 

4.  California  line,  under  Lieutenant  R.  S.  Williamson. 
— This  party  proceeded  to  San  Francisco  by  the  sea, 


ARMY  145 

where  it  was  fitted  out.  Passing  up  the  San  Joaquin  and 
Tulare  valley,  they  explored  the  region  about  Walker's 
pass,  the  Tejon  and  other  passes,  and  portions  of  the 
Mohave  and  Colorado. 

5.  Line  of  the  32nd  parallel,  west. — After  the  com- 
pletion of  Lieutenant  Williamson's   survey,   Lieutenant 
Parke,  who  had  accompanied  him  as  assistant,  proceeded 
by  way  of  Warner's  ranch  to  Fort  Yuma,  and  up  the  Gila 
to  the  Pimo  and  Maricopa  villages,  thence  by  way  of 
Tucson,  the  Copper  Mines   (Fort  Webster)   and  Dona 
Ana,  to  El  Paso.     From  this  point  the  party  returned  to 
Washington  by  way  of  San  Antonio. 

6.  Line  of  the  32nd  parallel,  east,  under  Captain  J. 
Pope. — This  party  started  from  El  Paso,  and  proceeded 
in  almost  a  straight  line  eastward  to  Preston,  on  Red 
River,  passing  through  the  Guadaloupe  Mountains.     The 
Pecos  was  crossed  at  the  mouth  of  Delaware  Creek,  and 
the  Llano  Estacado  traversed  for  a  distance  of  125  miles. 

The  preceding  lines  are  those  organized  or  detailed  for 
duty  in  the  year  1853.  Subsequent  parties,  however, 
were  from  time  to  time  sent  out  by  the  War  Depart- 
ment, either  to  verify  old  routes,  or  to  determine  new 
ones. 

The  project  of  a  transcontinental  railroad  developed 
by  private  enterprise  was  regarded  by  a  large  number  of 
American  citizens  as  a  mad  and  impracticable  undertak- 
ing. It  had  received  little  encouragement  in  public 
opinion  and  practically  no  financial  support,  except  by 
those  few  far  seeing  promoters  who  realized  that  the 
development  of  the  country  west  of  the  Missouri  River 
would  depend  largely  upon  the  constructive  forces  of 
railway  communication. 

The  line  along  the  forty-second  parallel  of  latitude 
known  as  the  Great  Platte  Valley  Route,  explored  by 


146  OUR  UNITED  STATES 

General  Dodge,  Mr.  Peter  Day  and  others,  was  finally 
chosen.  This  route  was  made  by  the  buffalo,  next  used 
by  the  Indians,  then  by  the  fur  traders,  next  by  the  Mor- 
mons, and  then  by  the  overland  immigration  to  California 
and  Oregon.  On  this  trail,  or  close  to  it,  was  built  the 
Union  and  Central  Pacific  railroads  to  California,  and 
the  Oregon  Short  Line  branch  of  the  Union  Pacific  to 
Oregon. 

"Up  to  1858,"  writes  Major-General  G.  M.  Dodge, 
Chief  Engineer  of  the  Union  Pacific  Railway,  "all  the 
projects  for  building  a  railroad  across  the  continent  were 
regarded  as  the  Pacific  roads,  each  route  mentioned  hav- 
ing a  particular  name. 

"In  1856  both  political  parties  in  convention  passed 
resolutions  favoring  a  Pacific  railroad,  and  in  1857 
President  Buchanan  advocated  it  as  a  reason  for  holding 
the  Pacific  coast  people  in  the  Union,  and  it  was  this 
sentiment  that  gave  to  the  forty-second  parallel  line  the 
name  of  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad.  In  the  Thirty- 
sixth  Congress,  General  S.  R.  Curtis,  of  Iowa,  then  in 
Congress,  became  the  champion  of  the  Union  Pacific. 
Curtis's  bill  passed  the  House  in  December,  1860.  It 
failed  to  become  a  law,  as  the  question  of  secession  was 
up  then  and  Lincoln  had  been  elected  President.  In  the 
extra  session  of  the  Thirty-second  Congress  in  July  1861, 
Curtis  reintroduced  the  bill  and  he  left  Congress  to  enter 
the  army.  Lincoln  advocated  its  passage  and  building, 
not  only  as  a  military  necessity,  but  as  a  means  of  hold- 
ing the  Pacific  coast  to  the  Union.  This  bill  became  a 
law  in  1862. 

"The  Union  Pacific  Railway  was  organized  on  Sep- 
tember 2,  1862,  at  Chicago,  Major  General  S.  R.  Curtis, 
of  Iowa,  being  chairman  of  the  commissioners  appointed 
by  Congress,"  says  General  Dodge.  "In  the  Spring  of 


ARMY  147 

1863,  when  in  command  of  the  district  of  Corinth,  Miss., 
I  received  a  despatch  from  General  Grant  to  proceed  to 
Washington  and  report  to  President  Lincoln.  No  ex- 
planation coming  with  the  despatch,  and  having  a  short 
time  before  organized  and  armed  some  negroes  for  the 
purpose  of  guarding  a  contraband  camp  which  we  had 
at  Corinth,  which  act  had  been  greatly  criticized  in  the 
army  and  by  civilians,  I  was  somewhat  alarmed,  think- 
ing possibly  I  was  to  be  called  to  account.  But  on  ar- 
riving at  Washington  I  discovered  that  my  summons  was 
clue  to  an  interview  between  Mr.  Lincoln  and  myself  at 
Council  Bluffs  in  August,  1859.  He  was  there  to  look 
after  an  interest  in  the  Riddle  tract  he  had  bought  of 
Mr.  N.  B.  Judd,  of  Chicago.  I  had  just  arrived  from 
an  exploring  trip  to  the  westward,  and  after  dinner, 
while  I  was  resting  on  the  stoop  of  the  Pacific  House, 
Mr.  Lincoln  sat  down  beside  me,  and  by  his  kindly  ways 
soon  drew  from  me  all  I  knew  of  the  country  west,  and 
the  results  of  my  reconnaissances.  As  the  saying  is,  he 
completely  'shelled  my  woods'  getting  all  the  secrets 
that  were  later  to  go  to  my  employers. 

"Under  the  law  of  1862  the  President  was  to  fix  the 
eastern  terminus  of  the  Union  Pacific  Railway,  and 
remembering  our  talk  in  the  fifties,  he  wished  to  con- 
sult me  in  the  matter. 

"The  towns  on  the  Missouri  River  within  a  distance 
of  100  miles  of  the  mouth  of  the  Platte  River  were  using 
their  influence  to  have  the  terminus  made  at  each  of  their 
places,  but  it  was  evident  that  Mr.  Lincoln  had  deter- 
mined upon  some  point  north  of  the  mouth  of  the  Platte 
River,  so  that  great  valley  could  be  utilized  for  the  route 
of  the  railroad.  After  his  interview  with  me,  in  which 
he  showed  a  perfect  knowledge  of  the  question,  and 
satisfying  himself  as  to  the  engineering  questions  that 


148  OUR  UNITED  STATES 

had  been  raised,  I  was  satisfied  he  would  locate  the  ter- 
minus at  or  near  Council  Bluffs. 

"On  March  8,  1864,  he  notified  the  United  States 
Senate  that  on  the  17th  day  of  November,  1863,  he  had 
located  the  'eastern  terminus  of  the  Union  Pacific  Rail- 
way within  the  limits  of  the  township  of  Omaha.' 
'Since  then/  he  says,  'the  company  has  represented 
to  me  that  upon  added  survey  made  it  has  determined 
upon  the  precise  point  of  departure  of  the  branch  road 
from  the  Missouri  River,  and  located  same  within  the 
limits  designated  in  the  order  of  November  last/ 

"Mr.  Lincoln  also  took  up  with  me  the  construction 
of  the  road.  I  expressed  opinion  that  no  private  enter- 
prise could  build  it,  and  that  it  must  be  done  by  the 
Government.  He  answered  that  the  government  had  its 
hands  full  in  the  war,  but  was  willing  to  support  any 
company  to  the  full  extent  of  its  power.  After  saying 
good-bye  to  the  President,  I  went  immediately  to  New 
York  and  Messrs.  Durant,  Cisco  and  others  then  con- 
nected with  the  company  and  reported  Mr.  Lincoln's 
words.  It  gave  new  courage  to  the  company.  The  law 
of  1864  was  passed,  and  Mr.  Dey  let  the  first  contracts 
and  grading  was  started  in  the  fall  of  1864,  and  the  first 
rail  laid  in  July,  1865.  Look  back  to  the  beginning  at 
the  Missouri  River,  with  no  railway  communication  from 
the  East,  and  500  miles  of  the  country  in  advance  with- 
out timber,  fuel,  or  any  material  whatever  from  which 
to  build  or  maintain  a  road,  except  the  sand  for  the  bare 
roadbed  itself,  with  everything  to  be  transported  and 
that  by  teams,  or  at  best  by  steamboats,  for  hundreds 
and  thousands  of  miles." 

"The  Union  Pacific  was  the  pioneer  and  the  first  to  lead 
the  march  of  civilization  into  the  wilderness,"  says  Mr. 
John  N.  Baldwin,  its  General  Solicitor.  "It  was  not 


ARMY  149 

conceived  for  private  ends  nor  born  of  the  spirit  of  com- 
mercialism, but  was  created  to  preserve  a  republic  and 
projected  by  the  impulse  of  improvement. 

"It  is  the  only  railroad  in  the  United  States  that  was 
constructed  under  federal  muskets  and  protected  by  fed- 
eral troops,  and  of  which  it  was  said  by  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  United  States  that  the  people  of  this  coun- 
try would  have  sanctioned  the  action  of  Congress  in  its 
creation  if  it  had  departed  from  the  traditional  policy 
of  the  country  regarding  work  of  internal  improvement 
and  charged  the  Government  itself  with  the  direction 
and  execution  of  the  enterprise." 

In  1865,  Mr.  Dey,  who  up  to  that  date  had  been 
Chief  Engineer  of  the  Union  Pacific,  resigned  his  posi- 
tion and  the  office  was  tendered  to  Major  General 
Grenville  M.  Dodge.  At  that  time  General  Dodge  was 
in  command  of  the  United  States  forces  on  the  plains 
in  the  Indian  campaigns.  General  Grant  was  unwilling 
that  he  should  leave  but  having  finished  his  work  by 
May,  1866,  he  was  granted  leave  of  absence  by  General 
W.  T.  Sherman,  and  entered  upon  the  responsibilities 
of  his  new  position  shortly  after  General  Dodge  resigned 
his  commission  in  the  army  to  devote  himself  exclusively 
to  the  new  enterprise. 

"The  organization  for  the  construction  of  the  Union 
Pacific  Railway,"  writes  General  Dodge,  "was  upon  a 
military  basis,  nearly  every  man  upon  it  had  been  in  the 
Civil  War;  the  heads  of  most  of  the  engineering  parties 
and  all  chiefs  of  the  construction  forces  were  officers  in 
the  Civil  War;  the  chief  of  the  track-laying  force,  Gen- 
eral Casement,  had  been  a  distinguished  division  com- 
mander in  the  Civil  War,  and  at  any  moment  I  could 
call  into  the  field  a  thousand  men,  well  officered,  ready 
to  meet  any  crisis  or  any  emergency. 


150  OUR  UNITED  STATES 

"From  the  beginning  to  the  completion  of  that  road," 
he  continues,  "our  success  depended  in  a  great  measure 
on  the  cordial  and  active  support  of  the  army,  especially 
its  commander  in  chief,  General  Grant,  and  the  com- 
mander of  the  Military  Division  of  the  West,  General 
Sherman.  He  took  a  personal  interest  in  the  project. 
He  visited  the  work  several  times  each  year  during  its 
continuance,  and  I  was  in  the  habit  of  communicating 
with  him  each  month,  detailing  my  progress  and  laying 
before  him  my  plans.  In  return  I  received  letters  from 
him  almost  every  month.  We  also  had  the  cordial  sup- 
port of  the  district  commanders  of  the  country  through 
which  we  operated — General  Augur,  General  Cook,  Gen- 
eral Gibbon,  and  General  Stevenson,  and  their  subordi- 
nates. General  Grant  had  given  full  and  positive 
instructions  that  every  support  should  be  given  to  me, 
and  General  Sherman  in  the  detailed  instructions  prac- 
tically left  it  to  my  own  judgment  as  to  what  support 
should  be  given  by  the  troops  on  the  plains.  They  were 
also  instructed  to  furnish  my  surveying  parties  with  pro- 
visions from  the  posts  whenever  our  provisions  should 
give  out,  and  the  subordinate  officers,  following  the 
example  of  their  chiefs,  responded  to  every  demand 
made  no  matter  at  what  time  of  day  or  night,  what  time 
of  year  or  in  what  weather,  and  took  as  much  interest 
in  the  matter  as  we  did. 

"General  Sherman's  great  interest  in  the  enterprise 
originated  from  the  fact  that  he  personally,  in  1849,  took 
from  General  Smith,  commander  on  the  Pacific  Coast, 
the  instructions  to  Lieutenants  Warner  and  Williamson, 
of  the  engineers,  who  made  the  first  surveys  coming 
east  from  California,  to  ascertain,  if  possible,  whether 
it 'was  practicable  to  cross  the  Sierra  Nevada  range  of 
mountains  with  a  railroad.  These  instructions  were 


ARMY  151 

sent  at  General  Sherman's  own  suggestion,  and  the 
orders,  and  examination  preceded  the  act  of  Congress 
making  appropriations  for  explorations  and  surveys  for 
a  railroad  route  from  the  Mississippi  River  to  the  Pacific 
Ocean  by  four  years.  General  Sherman's  interest  lasted 
during  his  life-time,  and  was  signalized  in  the  closing 
days  of  his  official  life  by  a  summary  of  transcontinental 
railroad  construction,  the  most  exhaustive  paper  on  the 
subject  I  have  ever  seen." 

The  track-laying  on  the  Union  Pacific  was  a  science. 
Mr.  W.  A.  Bell,  in  an  article  on  the  Pacific  Railroads, 
describes,  after  witnessing  it,  as  follows : 

"We  pundits  of  the  far  East,  stood  upon  that  embank- 
ment, only  about  a  thousand  miles  this  side  of  sunset, 
and  backed  westward  before  that  hurrying  corps  of 
sturdy  operators  with  a  mingled  feeling  of  amusement, 
curiosity,  and  profound  respect.  On  they  came.  A 
tight  car,  drawn  by  a  single  horse,  gallops  up  to  the  front 
with  its  load  of  rails.  Two  men  seize  the  end  of  a  rail 
and  start  forward,  the  rest  of  the  gang  taking  hold  by 
twos,  until  it  is  clear  of  the  car.  They  came  forward  at 
a  run.  At  the  word  of  command  the  rail  is  dropped  in 
its  place,  right  side  up  with  care,  while  the  same  process 
goes  on  at  the  other  side  of  the  car.  Less  than  thirty 
seconds  to  a  rail  for  each  gang,  and  so  four  rails  go  down 
to  the  minute.  Quick  work,  you  say,  but  the  fellows  on 
the  Union  Pacific  are  tremendously  in  earnest.  The 
moment  the  car  is  empty  it  is  tipped  over  on  the  side  of 
the  track  to  let  the  next  loaded  car  pass  it,  and  then  it  is 
tipped  back  again;  and  it  is  a  sight  to  see  it  go  flying 
back  for  another  load,  propelled  by  a  horse  at  full  gallop 
at  the  end  of  60  or  80  feet  of  rope,  ridden  by  a  young 
Jehu,  who  drives  furiously.  Close  behind  the  first  gang 
come  the  gangers,  spikers,  and  bolters,  and  a  lively  time 


152  OUR  UNITED  STATES 

they  make  of  it.  It  is  a  grand  'anvil  chorus/  that  those 
sturdy  sledges  are  playing  across  the  plains.  It  is  in  a 
triple  time,  three  strokes  to  the  spike.  There  are  10 
spikes  to  a  rail,  400  rails  to  a  mile,  1,800  miles  to  San 
Francisco — 21,000,000  times  are  those  sledges  to  be 
swung;  21,000,000  times  are  they  to  come  down  with 
their  sharp  punctuation  before  the  great  work  of  modern 
America  is  complete." 

"Each  of  our  surveying  parties,"  says  General  Dodge, 
"consisted  of  a  chief,  who  was  an  experienced  engineer, 
two  assistants,  also  civil  engineers,  rodmen,  flagmen,  and 
chainmen,  besides  axmen,  teamsters,  and  herders. 
When  the  party  was  expected  to  live  upon  the  game  of 
the  country  a  hunter  was  added.  Each  party  would 
thus  consist  of  from  eighteen  to  twenty- two  men,  all 
armed.  When  operating  in  a  hostile  Indian  country 
they  were  regularly  drilled,  though  after  the  Civil  War 
this  was  unnecessary,  as  most  of  them  had  been  in  the 
army.  Each  party  entering  a  country  occupied  by  hostile 
Indians  was  generally  furnished  with  a  military  escort  of 
from  ten  men  to  a  company  under  a  competent  officer. 
The  duty  of  this  escort  was  to  protect  the  party  when 
in  camp.  In  the  field  the  escort  usually  occupied  promi- 
nent hills  commanding  the  territory  in  which  the  work 
was  to  be  done,  so  as  to  head  off  sudden  attacks  by  the 
Indians.  Notwithstanding  this  protection,  the  parties 
were  often  attacked,  their  chief  or  some  of  their  men 
killed  or  wounded,  and  their  stock  run  off. 

"Our  Indian  troubles  commenced  in  1864,  and  lasted 
until  the  tracks  joined  at  Promontory.  We  lost  most 
of  our  men  and  stock  while  building  from  Fort  Kearney 
to  Bitter  Creek.  At  that  time  every  mile  of  road  had  to 
be  surveyed,  graded,  tied,  and  bridged  under  military 
protection.  The  order  to  every  surveying  corps,  grad- 


ARMY  153 

ing,  bridging,  and  tie  outfit  was  never  to  run  when 
attacked.  All  were  required  to  be  armed ;  and  I  do  not 
know  that  the  order  was  disobeyed  in  a  single  instance, 
nor  did  I  ever  hear  that  the  Indians  had  driven  a  party 
permanently  from  its  work.  I  remember  one  occasion 
when  they  swooped  down  on  a  grading  outfit  in  sight 
of  the  temporary  fort  of  the  military  some  five  miles 
away,  and  right  in  sight  of  the  end  of  the  track.  The 
government  commission  to  examine  that  section  of  the 
completed  road  had  just  arrived,  and  the  commissioners 
witnessed  the  fight.  The  graders  had  their  arms  stacked 
on  the  cut.  The  Indians  leaped  from  the  ravines,  and, 
springing  upon  the  workmen  before  they  could  reach 
their  arms,  cut  loose  the  stock  and  caused  a  panic.  Gen. 
Frank  P.  Blair,  General  Simpson,  and  Doctor  White 
were  the  commissioners,  and  they  showed  their  grit  by 
running  to  my  car  for  arms  to  aid  in  the  fight.  We  did 
not  fail  to  benefit  from  this  experience,  for,  on  returning 
to  the  East  the  commission  dwelt  earnestly  on  the  neces- 
sity of  our  being  protected. 

"During  the  building  of  the  road  from  Sherman,  west, 
many  questions  arose  in  relation  to  the  location,  con- 
struction, the  grades  and  curvatures  of  the  work.  All 
through  I  stood  firmly  for  my  line,  for  what  I  consid- 
ered was  a  commercially  economical  line  for  the  com- 
pany, and  for  what  I  thought  we  ought  to  build  under 
the  specifications  of  the  Government.  News  of  the  con- 
test between  the  company  and  the  contractors  reached 
Washington  through  the  government  commissioners. 
Generals  Grant  and  Sherman  were  much  interested,  and 
in  1868  they  came  West  with  a  party  consisting  of  Maj. 
Gen.  Philip  H.  Sheridan,  Gen.  August  Kantz,  Gen. 
Joseph  C.  Potter,  Gen.  Frederick  Dent,  Gen.  William  S. 
Harney,  Gen.  Louis  C.  Hunt,  Gen.  Adam  Slemmer,  Sid- 


154          OUR  UNITED  STATES 

ney  Dillon  and  F.  C.  Durant,  who  wired  me  to  meet 
them  at  Fort  Sanders,  then  the  headquarters  of  General 
Gibbon.  The  questions  in  dispute  between  myself  and 
the  contractors  was  then  taken  up,  and  Generals  Grant 
and  Sherman  took  decided  grounds  in  the  matter,  sup- 
porting me  fully,  so  that  I  had  no  further  trouble. 

"In  my  examination  of  the  surveys  across  the  plains 
during  1867,  I  had  with  me  Gen.  John  A.  Rawlins,  Gen- 
eral Grant's  chief  of  staff.  General  Rawlins's  health 
was  poor ;  he  was  threatened  with  consumption,  of  which 
he  afterwards  died.  General  Grant  wrote  me,  suggest- 
ing that  in  some  one  of  my  trips  I  take  him  with  me  so 
as  to  give  him  the  benefit  of  the  high,  dry  air,  which  it 
was  a  great  pleasure  to  me  to  do.  He  came  to  me  with 
his  aide,  Major  Dunn.  We  had  as  escort  two  companies 
of  cavalry  under  Colonel  Misner  and  a  company  of  in- 
fantry to  guard  the  trains. 

"The  Indians  were  very  aggressive  during  the  Summer 
of  1867.  We  were  progressing  remarkably  well  with  the 
work  when  the  combined  attacks  of  the  Indians  along  our 
whole  line,  not  only  on  our  surveying  parties  far  west 
but  on  our  graders,  killing  our  men  and  stealing  our 
stock,  for  a  time  virtually  blocked  up  our  work.  I  was 
pushing  west  with  this  party  to  overcome  these  deten- 
tions and  reached  the  Red  Desert.  We  were  then  in  an 
unknown  country,  where  we  expected  to  find  the  divide 
of  the  continent.  We  found  the  basin  that  Brown  had 
discovered  and  while  I  was  preparing  to  cross  this  basin 
I  discovered  one  of  my  parties,  under  Mr.  Bates,  who 
was  running  a  line  from  Green  River  east  across  the 
desert.  They  had  been  three  days  without  water,  and 
had  abandoned  the  wagons,  and  were  running,  by  com- 
pass, due  east  as  fast  as  they  possibly  could  in  the  hope 
of  striking  a  stream.  We  discovered  them  several  miles 


ARMY  155 

west  of  us  when  we  reached  the  rim  of  the  basin,  and  we 
first  thought  they  were  Indians,  but  upon  watching  them 
closely  I  discovered  they  were  white  men  and  saw  they 
were  in  trouble.  We  made  rapidly  toward  them  and 
found  them  in  a  deplorable  condition,  men  nearly 
exhausted,  tongues  swollen,  and  so  weakened  physically 
that  they  could  not  make  much  headway.  Our  oppor- 
tune finding  of  them  saved  some  of  their  lives. 

"On  the  western  rim  of  the  basin,  as  I  left  it^  I  ran  into 
the  remains  of  some  old  wagons  and  other  articles  which 
indicated  that  some  military  force  had  tried  to  cross 
there.  Afterwards  I  learned  that  it  had  been  Colonel 
Steptoe's  expedition  to  Oregon,  and  that  in  crossing  the 
Bridges  Pass  trying  to  reach  northwest,  they  struck  this 
country  and  were  obliged  to  abandon  a  portion  of  their 
outfit.  This  demonstrated  that  no  knowledge  of  this  de- 
pression was  had  by  any  one  until  we  developed  it  in  our 
surveys.  We  had  great  difficulty  in  obtaining  water  for 
the  operation  of  our  road  through  the  basin,  being  obliged 
to  sink  artesian  wells  to  a  great  depth. 

"Upon  our  return  trip,  after  reaching  Salt  Lake,  we 
followed  the  Bear  River  up  to  its  northern  bend  and  on 
to  the  Snake  River  by  the  Blacksmith  Fork  to  what  is 
known  as  Grays  Lake  and  undertook  to  cross  the  moun- 
tains from  there  directly  eastward  to  the  South  Pass. 
The  country  was  very  rough. 

"When  I  reached  the  west  base  of  the  mountains  I  saw 
we  were  going  to  have  trouble  in  getting  our  trains  over. 
General  Rawlins  had  become  quite  fatigued  in  the  jour- 
ney, and  I  was  in  the  habit  of  taking  him  and  going 
ahead  of  the  party,  fixing  our  camp  where  he  would  be 
comfortable  for  the  day,  and  then  bringing  up  the  rest 
of  our  party,  escort  and  trains.  This  day  I  went  nearly 
to  the  top  of  the  first  range,  and  when  we  raked  away 


156          OUR  UNITED  STATES 

the  snow  to  pitch  our  tents  we  found  the  ground  thick 
with  the  mountain  strawberry.  We  had  seen  a  good 
many  grizzly  bears  near  Grays  Lake,  driven  from  the 
mountains  by  the  fires,  and  I  left  positive  instruction  for 
no  one  to  go  out  and  follow  a  grizzly  or  attempt  to  shoot 
one.  The  mountains  were  so  steep  and  rough  I  went 
back  to  bring  up  the  trains,  which  had  to  be  hauled  up 
the  mountains  with  doubling  up  our  mules  and  putting 
the  infantry  on  prolongs  ahead  of  them.  In  the  after- 
noon, after  we  had  gotten  the  trains  over  the  roughest 
of  the  ground,  I  returned  to  camp  and  found  Rawlins 
and  Dunn  away.  I  asked  the  cook  where  they  were,  and 
he  said  he  thought  they  had  gone  to  follow  a  grizzly  that 
had  passed  by  the  camp  a  short  time  before.  I  had  with 
me  one  of  our  best  guides,  Sol  Gee.  Knowing  that  if 
they  found  the  bear  and  shot  it  there  would  in  all  prob- 
ability, be  trouble,  I  took  Gee  and  we  followed  their  trail 
as  rapidly  as  possible.  It  was  but  a  short  time  until  we 
heard  two  shots,  and  in  a  few  minutes  afterwards  we 
saw  Rawlins  and  Dunn  coming  towards  us  with  the 
greatest  speed.  I  knew  then  they  had  shot  at  the  bear 
and  had  wounded  him,  and  he  was  following  them.  I 
said  to  Sol  Gee,  who  was  a  sure  shot,  that  I  would  drop 
below  the  trail  and  attract  the  attention  of  the  bear  as 
he  passed ;  and  if  I  fired  and  missed,  he  must  be  sure  in 
his  shot  or  the  bear  would  get  me. 

"As  Rawlins  and  Dunn  came  up  I  saw  the  bear  was 
close  to  them,  and  I  drew  the  bear's  attention,  and  he 
turned  toward  me,  giving  me  a  very  good  shot,  but  I  hit 
him  a  little  too  far  back,  but  did  not  stop  him,  and  he 
made  for  me.  Gee  waited  until  he  got  him  face  to  face 
and  then  shot  and  hit  him  between  the  eyes  and  dropped 
him.  He  was  one  of  the  largest  grizzlies  I  ever  saw. 
We  gave  the  hide  and  claws  to  Rawlins  and  his  friends. 


ARMY  157 

General  Rawlins,  who  was  a  great  stickler  in  the  army 
for  obeying  orders  and  who  was  sometimes  very  strong 
in  his  language,  turned  to  me  and,  in  his  most  emphatic 
language,  said  we  ought  to  have  let  the  bear  get  them  for 
their  disobeying  my  orders,  but  that  he  was  not  to  blame. 
It  was  Major  Dunn,  who  was  crazy  to  kill  a  grizzly,  and 
he  was  fool  enough  to  let  him  try  it. 

"When  we  reached  the  South  Pass  there  had  been  gold 
discovered  just  north  in  what  was  known  as  the  'Miner's 
Delight  Mines.'  The  arrival  of  such  a  party  with  so 
distinguished  a  person  as  General  Rawlins  drew  immedi- 
ate attention  to  us  and  we  were  given  a  lunch  and  a  great 
deal  of  consideration.  Our  guide,  Sol  Gee,  when  he  got 
to  the  towns  was  apt  to  drink  too  much,  and  when  we 
left  after  our  lunch  in  the  afternoon,  I  could  not  find 
him,  and  I  sent  Major  Dunn  to  hunt  him  up.  I  told 
Dunn  under  no  circumstances  to  let  us  get  more  than 
two  miles  away  before  he  joined  us,  because  I  knew  the 
Indians  were  in  the  valley  of  the  Sweetwater  and  had 
been  doing  considerable  depredation.  We  moved  on, 
and  I  thought  no  more  about  Dunn  or  Gee  until  we  had 
gone  eight  or  ten  miles,  when  I  discovered  they  were  not 
with  us.  It  was  nearly  night  and  we  went  into  camp. 
I  had  discovered  fresh  Indian  signs,  and  I  .knew  they 
were  watching  us,  and  it  made  me  very  anxious  for  the 
safety  of  Dunn  and  Gee.  I  took  half  a  dozen  of  the 
best  mounted  cavalry  with  me  and  went  back,  supposing 
they  were  still  at  the  miner's  camp. 

"I  had  not  gone  more  than  three  or  four  miles  when 
shots  came  flying  at  us  from  the  bowlders  in  the  road 
ahead.  I  thought  it  was  Indians  and  told  Guide  Adams, 
who  was  with  me,  to  seek  cover  and  try  to  communicate 
with  them.  When  he  called,  Gee  answered,  and  when 
we  rode  up  to  them  we  found  Dunn  and  Gee  behind  the 


158  OUR  UNITED  STATES 

rocks,  thinking  that  we  were  Indians.  Gee  had  told 
Dunn  when  he  heard  us  coming  that  their  only  salvation 
was  to  get  to  cover  and  fire  at  us,  and  that  in  the  night  it 
would  probably  scare  the  Indians  away.  I  asked  Dunn 
why  he  had  not  obeyed  my  orders.  He  said  that  when 
he  found  Gee  he  was  not  able  to  travel,  and,  of  course, 
like  a  good  soldier,  he  could  not  leave  him.  After  he 
got  Gee  sobered  up  they  waited  until  dark,  hoping  they 
could  make  camp  without  being  discovered  by  the 
Indians. 

"In  the  Winter  of  1867-68  the  end  of  our  track  was 
at  Cheyenne.  During  that  winter  there  had  assembled 
there  a  very  large  number  of  people ;  possibly  it  was  the 
greatest  gambling  place  ever  established  on  the  plains, 
and  it  was  full  of  desperate  characters. 

"There  had  been  established  there  by  the  government 
Fort  D.  A.  Russell,  some  two  or  three  miles  north  of  the 
railroad  track,  and  there  was  in  command  Gen.  J.  D. 
Stevenson,  who  had  served  with  me  during  the  civil  war. 
In  my  absence  these  desperate  characters  got  together, 
held  a  meeting  and  jumped  the  town,  refusing  to  recog- 
nize the  authorities  we  had  put  over  the  town  or  in  any 
way  comply  with  our  orders.  They  had  commenced  rob- 
bing our  trainmen  and  committing  other  depredations 
that  I  knew  we  must  stop  or  lose  all  control  of  the  rail- 
road forces  at  the  end  of  the  track.  I  immediately  wired 
Gen.  Stevenson,  calling  his  attention  to  the  condition  of 
affairs  and  asking  him  to  use  his  troops  to  bring  about 
order  and  a  recognition  of  our  authority,  and  while  he 
had  no  legal  right  in  the  matter  he  turned  out  his  troops 
as  skirmishers  and  drove  every  citizen  in  the  town  to  a 
mile  or  so  south  of  the  track  and  then  held  a  parley  with 
them.  He  told  them  that  until  they  were  ready  to  com- 
ply with  the  orders  and  recognize  the  authority  of  the 


ARMY  159 

railroad  company  they  should  not  go  back  to  their  prop- 
erty; that  really  the  land  belonged  to  the  United  States 
and  the  railway  was  occupying  it  under  the  Government 
charter.  This  brought  them  immediately  to  terms  and 
they  immediately  made  peace,  and  were  allowed  to  come 
back  to  town  and  we  afterwards  had  no  more  trouble 
with  them.  I  recite  this  only  as  showing  the  great  aid 
the  Government  always  gave  us  in  building  the  road. 

"The  law  of  1862  provided  that  the  Union  Pacific  and 
Central  Pacific  should  join  their  tracks  at  the  California 
state  line.  The  law  of  1864  allowed  the  Central  Pacific 
to  build  150  miles  east  of  the  state  line,  but  that  was 
changed  by  the  law  of  1866,  and  the  two  companies 
allowed  to  build,  one  east  and  the  other  west,  until  they 
met.  The  building  of  500  miles  of  road  during  the  Sum- 
mers of  1866  and  1867,  hardly  twelve  months,  had 
aroused  great  interest  in  the  country,  and  much  excite- 
ment in  which  the  Government  took  a  part.  We  were 
pressed  to  as  speedy  a  completion  of  the  road  as  possible, 
although  ten  years  had  been  allowed  by  Congress.  The 
officers  of  the  Union  Pacific  had  become  imbued  with 
this  spirit,  and  they  urged  me  to  plan  to  build  as  much 
road  as  possible  in  1868. 

"The  reaching  of  the  summit  of  the  first  range  of  the 
Rocky  Mountains,  which  I  named  Sherman,  in  honor 
of  my  old  commander,  in  1867,  placed  us  comparatively 
near  good  timber  for  ties  and  bridges,  which,  after  cut- 
ting, could  be  floated  down  the  mountain  streams  at  some 
points  to  our  crossing,  and  at  others  to  within  twenty- 
five  or  thirty  miles  of  our  work.  This  afforded  great 
relief  to  the  transportation. 

"We  laid  the  track  over  the  Wasatch  Range  in  the  dead 
of  Winter  on  top  of  snow  and  ice,  and  I  have  seen  a 
whole  train  of  cars,  track  and  all  slide  off  the  bank  and 


160  OUR  UNITED  STATES 

into  the  ditch  as  a  result  of  a  thaw  and  the  ice  that  cov- 
ered the  banks. 

"The  Central  Pacific  had  made  wonderful  progress 
coming  east,  and  we  abandoned  the  work  from  Promon- 
tory to  Humboldt  Wells,  bending  all  our  efforts  to  meet 
them  at  Promontory.  Between  Ogden  and  Promontory 
each  company  graded  a  line,  running  side  by  side,  and  in 
some  places  one  line  was  right  above  the  other.  The 
laborers  upon  the  Central  Pacific  were  Chinamen,  while 
ours  were  Irishmen,  and  there  was  much  ill  feeling  be- 
tween them.  Our  Irishmen  were  in  the  habit  of  firing 
their  blasts  in  the  cuts  without  giving  warning  to  the 
Chinamen  on  the  Central  Pacific  working  right  above 
them.  From  this  cause  several  Chinamen  were  severely 
hurt.  Complaint  was  made  to  me  by  the  Central  Pacific 
people,  and  I  endeavored  to  have  the  contractors  bring 
all  hostilities  to  a  close,  but,  for  some  reason  or  other, 
they  failed  to  do  so.  One  day  the  Chinamen,  appreciat- 
ing the  situation,  put  in  what  is  called  a  'grave'  on  their 
work,  and  when  the  Irishmen  right  under  them  were  all 
at  work  let  go  their  blast  and  buried  several  of  our  men. 
This  brought  about  a  truce  at  once.  From  that  time  the 
Irish  laborers  showed  due  respect  for  the  Chinamen 
and  there  was  no  further  trouble. 

"On  the  morning  of  May  10,  1869,  Hon.  Leland  Stan- 
ford, governor  of  California  and  president  of  the  Cen- 
tral Pacific,  accompanied  by  Messrs.  Huntington,  Hop- 
kins, Crocker,  and  trainload  of  California's  distinguished 
citizens,  arrived  from  the  west.  During  the  forenoon 
Vice-President  T.  C.  Durant  and  Directors  John  R.  Duff 
and  Sidney  Dillon  and  Consulting  Engineer  Silas  A.  Sey- 
mour, of  the  Union  Pacific,  with  other  prominent  men, 
including  a  delegation  of  Mormons  from  Salt  Lake  City, 
came  in  on  a  train  from  the  East.  The  National  Gov- 


ARMY  161 

ernment  was  represented  by  a  detachment  of  'regulars' 
from  Fort  Douglass,  Utah,  accompanied  by  a  band;  and 
600  others,  including  Chinese,  Mexicans,  Indians,  half- 
breeds,  negroes,  and  laborers,  suggesting  an  air  of  cos- 
mopolitanism, all  gathered  around  the  open  space  where 
the  tracks  were  to  be  joined.  The  Chinese  laid  the  rails 
from  the  west  end  and  the  Irish  laborers  laid  them  from 
the  east  end,  until  they  met  and  joined. 

"Telegraphic  wires  were  so  connected  that  each  blow 
of  the  descending  sledge  could  be  reported  instantly  to 
all  parts  of  the  United  States.  Corresponding  blows 
were  struck  on  the  bell  of  the  city  hall  in  San  Francisco, 
and  with  the  last  blow  of  the  sledge  a  cannon  was  fired 
at  Fort  Point.  General  Safford  presented  a  spike  of 
gold,  silver  and  iron  as  the  offering  of  the  Territory  of 
Arizona.  Governor  Tuttle,  of  Nevada,  presented  a 
spike  of  silver  from  his  State.  The  connecting  tie  was 
of  California  laurel,  and  California  presented  the  last 
spike  of  gold  in  behalf  of  that  State.  A  silver  sledge 
had  also  been  presented  for  the  occasion.  A  prayer  was 
offered.  Governor  Stanford,  of  California,  made  a  few 
appropriate  remarks  on  behalf  of  the  Central  Pacific  and 
the  Chief  Engineer  responded  for  the  Union  Pacific. 
Then  the  telegraphic  inquiry  from  the  Omaha  office, 
from  which  the  circuit  was  to  be  started,  was  an- 
swered : 

'  'To  everybody :  Keep  quiet.  When  the  last  spike  is 
driven  at  Promontory  Point  we  will  say  "Done."  Don't 
break  the  circuit,  but  watch  for  the  signals  of  the  blows 
of  the  hammer.  The  spike  will  soon  be  driven.  The 
signal  will  be  three  dots  for  the  commencement  of  the 
blows/ 

"The  magnet  tapped — one — two — three — then  paused 
— 'Done/  The  spike  was  given  its  first  blow  by  Presi- 


162  OUR  UNITED  STATES 

dent  Stanford  and  Vice-President  Durant  followed. 
Neither  hit  the  spike  the  first  time,  but  hit  the  rail,  and 
were  greeted  by  the  lusty  cheers  of  the  onlookers,  ac- 
companied by  the  screams  of  the  locomotives  and  the 
music  of  the  military  band.  Many  other  spikes  were 
driven  on  the  last  rail  by  some  of  the  distinguished 
persons  present,  but  it  was  seldom  that  they  first  hit  the 
spike.  The  original  spike,  after  being  tapped  by  the 
officials  of  the  companies,  was  driven  home  by  the  chief 
engineers  of  the  two  roads.  Then  the  two  trains  were 
run  together,  the  two  locomotives  touching  at  the  point 
of  junction,  and  the  engineers  of  the  two  locomotives 
each  broke  a  bottle  of  champagne  on  the  other's  engine. 
Then  it  was  declared  that  the  connection  was  made,  and 
the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  were  joined  together,  never  to 
be  parted. 

"The  wires  in  every  direction  were  hot  with  congratu- 
latory telegrams.  President  Grant  and  Vice-President 
Colfax  were  the  recipients  of  especially  felicitous  mes- 
sages. 

"On  the  evening  of  May  8th,  in  San  Francisco,  from 
the  stages  of  the  theatres  and  other  public  places,  notice 
was  given  that  the  two  roads  had  met  and  were  to  be 
welded  on  the  morrow.  The  celebration  there  began  at 
once  and  practically  lasted  through  the  10th.  The  boom- 
ing of  cannons  and  the  ringing  of  bells  were  united  with 
other  species  of  noise-making  in  which  jubilant  hu- 
manity finds  expression  for  its  feelings  on  such  an  oc- 
casion. The  buildings  in  the  city  were  gay  with  flags 
and  bunting.  Business  was  suspended  and  the  longest 
procession  that  San  Francisco  had  ever  seen  attested 
the  enthusiasm  of  the  people.  At  night  the  city  was 
brilliant  with  illuminations.  Free  railway  trains  filled 
Sacramento  with  an  unwonted  crowd,  and  the  din  of 


ARMY  163 

cannon,    steam    whistles,    and   bells    followed    the    final 
message. 

"At  the  eastern  terminus  in  Omaha  the  firing  of  a  hun- 
dred guns  on  Capitol  Hill,  more  bells  and  steam  whistles, 
and  a  grand  procession  of  fire  companies,  civic  societies, 
citizens  and  visiting  delegations  echoed  the  sentiments  of 
the  Californians.  In  Chicago  a  procession  of  four  miles 
in  length,  a  lavish  display  of  decoration  in  the  city  and 
on  the  vessels  in  the  river,  and  an  address  by  Vice-presi- 
dent Colfax  in  the  evening  were  the  evidences  of  the 
city's  feeling.  In  New  York,  by  order  of  the  mayor,  a 
salute  of  a  hundred  guns  announced  the  culmination  of 
the  great  undertaking.  In  Trinity  Church  the  Te  Deum 
was  chanted,  prayers  were  offered,  and  when  the  services 
were  over  the  chimes  rang  out  'Old  Hundred/  the  'As- 
cension Carol'  and  national  airs.  The  ringing  of  bells 
in  Independence  Hall  and  the  fire  stations  in  Philadel- 
phia produced  an  unusual  concourse  of  citizens  to  cele- 
brate the  national  event.  In  the  other  large  cities  of  the 
country,  the  expressions  of  public  gratification  were 
hardly  less  hearty  and  demonstrative.  Bret  Harte  was 
inspired  to  write  the  celebrated  poem  of  'What  the  En- 
gines Said.'  The  first  verse  is : 

"What  was  it  the  engines  said, 
Pilots  touching  head  to  head, 
Facing  on  the  single  track, 
Half  the  world  behind  each  back? 
This  is  what  the  engines  said, 
Unreported  and  unread. 

"Not  forgetting  my  old  commander,  General  W.  T. 
Sherman,  who  had  been  such  an  aid  in  protecting  us  in 
the  building  of  the  road,  in  answer  to  our  telegram,  sent 
this  dispatch: 


164  OUR  UNITED  STATES 

"WASHINGTON,  D.  C,  May  11,  1869 
"Gen.  G.  M.  Dodge. 

"In  common  with  millions,  I  sat  yesterday  and  heard 
the  mystic  taps  of  the  telegraphic  battery  announce  the 
nailing  of  the  last  spike  in  the  great  Pacific  road.  In- 
deed, am  I  its  friend?  Yea.  Yet,  am  I  to  be  a  part  of 
it,  for  as  early  as  1854  I  was  vice-president  of  the  effort 
begun  in  San  Francisco  under  the  contract  of  Robinson, 
Seymour  and  Co.  As  soon  as  General  Thomas  makes 
certain  preliminary  inspections  in  his  new  command  on 
the  Pacific,  I  will  go  out,  and  I  need  not  say,  will  have 
different  facilities  from  that  of  1846,  when  the  only  way 
to  California  was  by  sailing  around  Cape  Horn,  taking 
our  ships  one  hundred  and  ninety-six  days.  All  honor 
to  you,  to  Durant,  to  Jack  and  Dan  Casement,  to  Reed, 
and  the  thousands  of  brave  fellows  who  have  wrought 
out  this  glorious  problem,  spite  of  changes,  storms,  and 
even  doubts  of  the  incredulous,  and  all  the  obstacles  you 
have  happily  surmounted. 

"W.  T.  SHERMAN,  General." 


CHAPTER  XI 
THE  RECONSTRUCTION  OF  THE  SOUTH 

AT  the  close  of  the  Civil  War,  there  were  in  round 
numbers  one  million  thirty- four  thousand  officers  and 
men  to  be  mustered  out  of  military  service.  In  the 
Spring  of  1865  this  gigantic  labor  was  in  progress,  and 
was  mainly  completed  by  the  end  of  the  year.  The 
Union  volunteers  upon  receiving  their  certificate  of  dis- 
charge, returned  joyfully  to  their  homes,  proud  of  their 
victory  and  hopeful  in  the  prospect  of  prosperity  and 
peace.  The  regular  army  at  the  close  of  the  war,  con- 
sisted of  six  regiments  of  cavalry,  of  twelve  companies 
each,  five  regiments  of  artillery,  twelve  companies  each, 
ten  regiments  of  infantry  each  of  one  battalion  of  ten 
companies  and  nine  regiments  of  infantry,  each  of  three 
battalions  of  eight  companies,  a  total  including  all 
branches  of  four  hundred  and  forty-eight  companies. 
In  1866  the  regular  army  numbered  thirty-eight  thou- 
sand five  hundred  and  forty  men,  of  which  two  regi- 
ments of  cavalry  and  four  regiments  of  infantry  were 
composed  of  colored  men. 

Very  different  were  the  conditions  of  the  soldiers  of 
the  Confederacy,  a  disbanded  army  of  disheartened  and 
impoverished  men,  who  had  struggled  against  federal 
authority  until  all  hope  of  a  successful  resistance  had 
ceased,  and  utterly  exhausted,  had  laid  down  their  arms 
only  because  there  was  no  longer  any  power  to  use  them. 

Under  the  generous  parole  of  General  Grant  they  now 

165 


166  OUR  UNITED  STATES 

returned  to  their  homes,  laid  waste  and  desolate  by  the 
terrible  havoc  of  war.  Their  farms  were  overgrown 
with  weeds,  their  plantations  stripped  and  barren,  their 
industries  destroyed  and  all  business  paralyzed  by  the 
calamities  that  followed  the  wake  of  fighting  armies. 

Shorn  of  private  wealth,  bankrupt  in  public  finances, 
what  had  been  the  Southern  Confederacy,  now  existed 
as  States  without  commercial  connections,  without  na- 
tional or  international  relations,  without  organized  gov- 
ernment and  in  a  restless,  if  not  dangerous,  condition  of 
complete  anarchy.  In  1863  President  Lincoln  had  pro- 
claimed that  as  soon  as  one-tenth  of  the  voters  in  any 
of  the  seceded  States  would  swear  to  abide  by  the  Con- 
stitution and  the  emancipation  laws,  they  might  organize 
state  governments;  during  the  following  two  years 
Louisiana,  Arkansas,  and  Tennessee  formed  state  gov- 
ernments under  these  conditions.  Upon  the  death  of 
Lincoln,  to  President  Johnson  fell  the  difficult  task  of 
enforcing  existing  national  laws  and  establishing  as  far 
as  his  limited  powers  permitted  a  system  of  government 
such  as  might  be  provided  for  by  existing  national 
statutes.  Exercising  his  powers  as  commander-in-chief 
of  a  victorious  army  he  appointed  provisional  governors 
over  the  revolted  States,  whose  powers  were  perforce 
limited  to  military  authority.  These  officials  were  regu- 
larly commissioned  and  their  compensation  was  paid,  as 
the  Secretary  of  War  states,  "from  the  appropriation 
for  army  contingencies  because  the  duties  performed  by 
these  parties  were  regarded  as  of  a  temporary  character, 
ancillary  to  the  withdrawal  of  military  force.  The  dis- 
bandment  of  armies,  and  the  reduction  of  military  ex- 
penditure, by  provisional  organizations  for  the  protection 
of  civil  rights,  the  preservation  of  peace,  and  to  take  the 
place  of  armed  force  in  the  respective  States." 


ARMY  167 

Through  the  medium  of  these  provisional  governors 
President  Johnson  endeavored  to  organize  state  govern- 
ments. The  war  hardly  closed  before  the  people  in  these 
insurrectionary  States  came  forward  and  haughtily 
claimed  as  a  right,  the  privilege  of  participating  at  once 
in  that  government  which  they  had  for  four  years  been 
righting  to  overthrow.  Allowed  and  encouraged  by  the 
Executive  to  organize  State  governments,  they  at  once 
placed  in  power  leading  rebels,  unrepentant  and  un- 
pardoned. 

Upon  the  re-assembling  of  Congress  in  December,  im- 
mediate steps  were  taken  to  define  the  legal  status  of  the 
"states"  lately  in  revolt  and  this  difficult  and  perplexing 
problem  became  the  storm  centre  of  national  legislation. 

While  the  aftermath  of  political  disorganization  en- 
gaged the  bitter  activities  of  North  and  South,  a  still 
more  grave  and  seemingly  hopeless  problem  had  pre- 
sented itself  from  the  inception  of  hostilities  and  cul- 
minated at  the  close  of  the  war  in  some  four  million 
negroes,  men,  women  and  children,  wandering  home- 
less, flocking  to  the  cities,  and  for  the  most  part  penni- 
less, in  the  possession  of  new  found  freedom,  the  use  for 
which  they  were  in  no  wise  prepared.  During  the  suc- 
cessive operations  of  the  Rebellion  the  problems  of  car- 
ing for  the  hords  of  negroes  and  poor  whites  who  had 
fled  to  protection  within  the  Union  lines  had  greatly 
taxed  the  energies  and  resource  of  the  commanding  gen- 
erals. 

Previous  to  the  Emancipation  Proclamation,  General 
B.  F.  Butler's  reply  to  the  request  from  a  southern  of- 
ficer to  restore  to  their  owners  three  escaped  slaves,  had 
to  a  large  extent  solved  a  delicate  situation.  In  the  in- 
terview May  23rd,  1861,  he  said  to  the  agent,  "The  ques- 
tion is  simply  whether  they  shall  be  used  for  or  against 


168  OUR  UNITED  STATES 

the  Government  of  the  United  States.  I  shall  hold  these 
negroes  as  contraband  of  war." 

Fleeing  to  the  Union  lines  in  increasing  numbers,  the 
men,  at  the  discretion  of  the  Union  commanders  were 
given  employment  in  the  trenches  or  as  teamsters  or  en- 
listed as  soldiers,  and  the  women  earned  their  subsistence 
by  washing,  mending  the  soldiers'  clothes,  marketing, 
etc.  Army  rations  were  served  to  the  children  and  to 
those  too  feeble  to  work,  but,  nevertheless,  extreme  desti- 
tution overtook  whole  villages  of  negroes,  the  problem 
becoming  more  and  more  grave  as  time  elapsed.. 

Early  in  the  progress  of  the  war,  Brigadier  General 
Rufus  Saxton,  by  his  authority  as  local  military  gover- 
nor, had  put  in  operation  a  successful  plan  in  June,  1862, 
by  establishing  market  houses  at  Hilton  Head  and  Beau- 
fort, South  Carolina,  where  the  produce  of  the  planta- 
tions worked  by  settlements  of  negroes  on  several  of  the 
Sea  Islands  was  profitably  disposed  of. 

General  Grant  introduced  another  plan  of  relief  by 
which  large  crops  of  neglected  cotton  and  corn  were  har- 
vested, sent  north  for  sale  and  the  proceeds  turned  over 
to  the  government.  For  this  labor  the  negroes  received 
wages,  clothing  and  food,  under  the  direction  of  Colonel 
Eaton  who  was  appointed  by  General  Grant  as  Chief  of 
Negro  Affairs.  "Home  Colonies"  were  established  on 
abandoned  lands  and  other  expedients  for  relief  were 
put  in  operation  with  more  or  less  success.  Charitable 
Organizations  of  the  north  were  early  in  the  field  to  es- 
tablish schools  and  otherwise  render  assistance  to  the 
suffering  negroes. 

In  January  1863,  Congressman  Thomas  D.  Eliot,  of 
Massachusetts,  introduced  a  bill  in  Congress  to  establish 
a  Bureau  of  Emancipation.  This  bill  was  to  create  a 
commissioner  of  Freedman's  Affairs  with  powers  of  gen- 


ARMY  169 

eral  superintendence  and  management  of  matters  and 
laws  connected  with  the  freedmen — all  military  and  civil 
officers  having  to  do  with  freedmen's  affairs  were  to  be 
governed  by  him — and  he  was  to  protect  the  negroes  in 
their  civil  rights,  allow  them  to  occupy  and  cultivate 
abandoned  lands,  to  see  that  they  received  compensa- 
tion for  labour  in  the  interest  of  others,  and  as  far  as 
possible  to  settle  all  disputes  and  controversies.  The 
commissioner  was  to  appoint  assistant  commissioners 
who  would  carry  out  the  operation  of  the  Bureau  and 
the  commissioner  himself  was  to  act  under  the  super- 
vision and  direction  of  the  Secretary  of  War. 

Although  this  bill  occasioned  a  lively  debate  in  Con- 
gress and  hot  opposition,  a  new  draft  with  slight  changes 
passed  both  houses  the  following  session ;  was  signed 
by  President  Lincoln,  March  3,  1865,  and  the  Bureau  of 
Refugees,  Freedmen  and  Abandoned  Lands  became  an 
established  law.  General  O.  O.  Howard,  a  young  officer 
of  thirty-four,  whose  brilliant  war  record  had  won  him 
laurels  and  hosts  of  friends,  was  summoned  immediately 
to  Washington  and  tendered  the  important  position  of 
Commissioner  of  this  new-formed  Bureau.  General 
Howard  asked  Mr.  Stanton  for  a  few  days  in  which  to 
consider  such  an  important  appointment;  on  the  12th 
of  May  he  called  on  the  Secretary  and  pronounced  him- 
self as  ready  to  assume  the  responsibilities  of  this  newly 
created  office. 

"He  briefly  expressed  his  satisfaction,"  writes  General 
Howard,  "and  sent  for  the  papers,  chiefly  letters  from 
correspondents,  widely  separated,  and  reports,  official 
and  unofficial,  touching  upon  matters  which  pertained  to 
refugees  and  freedmen.  The  clerk  in  charge  brought 
in  a  large,  oblong,  bushel  basket  heaped  with  letters, 
and  documents.  Mr.  Stanton,  with  both  hands  holding 


170  OUR  UNITED  STATES 

the  handles  at  each  end,  took  the  basket  and  extended  it 
to  me  and  with  a  smile  said :  'Here,  general,  here's  your 
Bureau !' " 

The  Bureau  of  Refugees,  Freedmen  and  Abandoned 
Lands  was  a  temporary  expedient  designed  solely  to  tide 
over  a  crisis  in  Federal  affairs,  until  such  time  as  the 
negro  should  be  in  a  position  to  assume  the  responsibili- 
ties of  his  own  living  and  betterment.  Four  million  souls 
were  to  be  directed,  protected  and  materially  assisted  at 
the  discretion  of  the  commissioner  and  General  Howard 
lost  no  time  in  naming  his  military  assistants.  Among 
those  were  Colonel  Orlando  Brown,  Eliphalet  Whittlesey, 
T.  W.  Osborn,  Samuel  Thomas,  General  Clinton,  B. 
Fisk,  General  J.  W.  Sprague,  and  Chaplain  Conway. 
These  officers  were  designated  to  their  several  districts 
in  the  south.  Colonel  John  Eaton  was  designated  for  the 
District  of  Columbia.  At  the  home  office,  General  W. 
E.  Strong  was  appointed  Inspector  General  for  the  whole 
field,  Colonel  J.  S.  Fullerton,  Adjutant  General,  Lieuten- 
ant Colonel  Geo.  W.  Ballock,  Chief  Disbursing  Officer 
and  head  of  the  Subsistence  Distribution.  Captain  Sam- 
uel L.  Taggart,  Assistant  Adjutant  General,  Major 
William  Towler,  Assistant  Adjutant  General,  Captain  J. 
M.  Brown,  Assistant  Quartermaster  and  Surgeon  C.  W. 
Horner,  Chief  Medical  Officer. 

General  Howard's  personal  staff  consisted  of  Major 
H.  M.  Stinson,  Captain  T.  W.  Gilbreth,  Captain  A.  S. 
Cole  and  Lieutenant  J.  A.  Sladen. 

With  this  force  and  subordinate  officers  amounting  to 
nearly  2,000  officers,  agents  and  other  employes,  the 
Bureau  inaugurated  a  remarkable  framework  of  author- 
ity upon  which  the  supervision  and  management  of  all 
subjects  relating  to  refugees  and  freedmen  were  system- 
atically and  conscientiously  handled.  Northern  benevo- 


ARMY  171 

lent  societies  became  the  friends  and  allies  of  this  depart- 
ment and  during  the  year  1866  more  than  one  hundred 
and  fifty  thousand  freedmen  and  their  children  regularly 
attended  the  schools  established  by  the  Bureau.  Desti- 
tute persons  numbering  thousands  were  helped  to  procure 
situations  and  others  put  to  work  on  abandoned  lands 
under  the  control  of  the  Bureau. 

From  its  inception,  President  Johnson  was  not  in  har- 
mony with  the  Freedmen's  Bureau,  and  the  strained  rela- 
tions between  the  Secretary  of  War  and  the  President 
dated  from  this  event.  Even  more  strained  were  the 
conditions  existing  between  Congress  and  the  President 
and  the  act  dated  March  2,  1867,  for  the  military  gov- 
ernment of  the  "rebel  States,"  the  subsequent  act  of 
March  23,  1867,  prescribing  the  conditions  of  organiza- 
tion of  State  governments,  previous  to  their  restoration 
to  the  Union,  and  the  supplementary  act  of  July  19,  1867, 
were  all  passed  over  the  President's  veto. 

"The  terrible  oppression  of  the  Southern  people  em- 
bodied in  those  acts  of  Congress,"  writes  General  Scho- 
field,  "has  hardly  been  appreciated  by  even  the  most 
enlightened  and  conservative  people  of  the  North.  Only 
those  who  actually  suffered  the  baneful  effects  of  the 
unrestrained  working  of  those  laws  can  ever  realize  their 
full  enormity.  The  radical  Congress  was  not  content 
to  impose  upon  the  Southern  States  impartial  suffrage 
to  whites  and  blacks  alike.  They  were  not  content  even 
to  disfranchise  the  leading  rebels,  according  to  the  terms 
of  the  Fourteenth  Amendment  to  the  Constitution.  Even 
those  would  not  be  sufficient  to  put  the  Southern  whites 
under  the  domination  of  their  former  slaves  and  of 
adventurers  from  the  North,  and  thus  secure  the  radical 
supremacy  in  the  reconstructed  States.  Hence  another 
and  an  enormous  stride  was  taken,  with  the  purpose  of 


172  OUR  UNITED  STATES 

putting  those  States  under  what  became  known  as  'car- 
pet-bag' governments,  so  offensive  as  to  be  nearly  intol- 
erable even  to  their  authors.  That  stride  consisted  in 
imposing  the  so-called  'iron-clad  oath'  upon  all  officers, 
of  whatever  grade  or  character,  in  all  the  former  Con- 
federate States.  That  oath  excluded  from  office  not  only 
all  who  had  in  any  way  taken  active  part  in  the  rebellion, 
but  even  the  most  constant  Union  men  of  the  South,  who 
had  remained  at  home  during  the  war;  for  not  one  of 
them  had  escaped  'giving  aid  or  comfort'  in  some  way 
to  those  engaged  in  the  rebellion." 

The  Act  of  March  2,  1867,  provided  for  five  military 
districts  which  were  organized  with  General  Schofield 
in  command  of  Virginia;  General  Sickles  for  North  and 
South  Carolina ;  General  George  H.  Thomas  for  Georgia, 
Florida  and  Alabama;  General  Ord  for  Mississippi  and 
Arkansas;  General  Sheridan  for  Louisiana  and  Texas. 
Upon  these  officers,  their  assistants  and  successors,  de- 
volved duties  of  the  most  delicate  and  trying  nature. 
Partisan  hatred,  fanned  by  the  discordance  and  oppres- 
sion of  Congress,  resulted  in  a  wide  range  of  compli- 
cated and  perplexing  questions  which  taxed  the  executive 
and  judicial  authority  of  the  military  to  the  uttermost. 
Of  the  five  generals  appointed  to  the  military  districts, 
Sheridan  and  Pope  were  in  favor  of  strong  measures 
in  dealing  with  the  South.  General  Sickles  showed  a 
tendency  to  follow  their  example — Schofield  and  Ord, 
on  the  other  hand,  were  for  moderate  and  less  exacting 
measures,  and,  though  military  officers  are  not  supposed 
to  have  political  opinions,  it  was  nevertheless  impossible 
that  the  great  issues  of  the  day  should  not  direct  the 
conduct  and  judgment  of  these  commanders.  "In  order 
to  sustain  their  honourable  reputations  a  degree  of  tact 
and  discretion  in  civil  affairs  was  essential  that  far 


ARMY  173 

exceeded  anything  that  had  been  required  of  them  be- 
fore." 

It  was  not  within  the  possibility  of  human  nature  that 
the  19,320  Union  soldiers  distributed  among  134  posts 
in  the  ten  southern  states  should  meet  the  favor  and 
approval  of  the  whites.  Though  submission  was  a 
necessity,  resentment  and  indignation  were  constantly 
in  evidence,  and,  as  the  military  government  was  not  one 
of  form  alone,  but  reached  the  commonest  concerns  of 
life,  the  conflict  of  authority,  denunciation  and  reproach 
was  the  prescribed  attitude  assumed  toward  the  military. 

One  of  the  first  duties  of  these  officers  was  the  modi- 
fication of  arbitrary  measures  towards  the  negroes, 
recently  enacted  by  the  states,  whipping  and  maiming, 
imprisonment  for  debt  were  prohibited,  and  the  right 
of  the  negro  to  offer  testimony  in  a  court  of  justice, 
overturned  the  established  order  of  things. 

The  most  harassing  question  that  had  to  be  dealt  with 
by  the  generals  on  assuming  their  commands  was  that 
of  their  relation  to  the  officers  of  the  existing  state  gov- 
ernments. In  pursuance  of  their  express  power  to  main- 
tain order,  the  generals  were,  however,  obliged  to  assume 
that  a  control  over  the  personnel  of  the  state  administra- 
tion was  implied.  Removals  from  office,  accordingly, 
were  made  from  the  beginning  on  grounds  of  inefficiency. 
As  removals  did  not  abolish  the  offices,  but  were  fol- 
lowed by  appointments,  military  headquarters  tended  to 
become  the  centre  of  a  keen  struggle  for  place  and  patron- 
age. The  mutual  recriminations  of  the  parties  to  such 
struggles  were  echoed  throughout  the  land  and  contrib- 
uted one  more  element  to  the  embarrassment  of  the  com- 
manders. The  manner  of  filling  vacancies  caused  by 
removal  or  otherwise  also  gave  rise  to  serious  discussion. 
Under  military  law  there  seemed  no  doubt  that  an  offi- 


174          OUR  UNITED  STATES 

cer  or  soldier  could  be  detailed  by  the  commander  to 
perform  the  duties  of  any  position.  This  method  was 
employed  in  many  cases,  but  the  supply  of  troops  was 
entirely  inadequate  to  the  demand  for  non-military  ser- 
vices and  resort  had  to  be  made  to  civilians. 

"So  far  as  the  criminal  law  was  concerned,  the  fail- 
ures of  justice  which  had  been  alleged  as  justifying  the 
establishment  of  military  government  were  attributed  to 
the  administration  rather  than  the  content  of  the  law. 
The  military  commissions  which  were  constituted  with 
various  degrees  of  system  and  permanency  by  the  district 
commanders  served  very  effectively  to  supplement  the 
regular  judiciary  in  the  application  of  the  ordinary  state 
law.  No  extensive  modifications  of  the  law  itself,  there- 
fore, were  considered  necessary.  When  policemen  or 
sheriffs  failed  to  arrest  suspected  or  notorious  offenders, 
the  troops  did  the  work;  when  district  attorneys  failed 
to  prosecute  vigorously,  or  judges  to  hold  or  adequately 
to  punish  offenders,  the  latter  were  taken  into  mili- 
tary custody;  when  juries  failed  to  convict,  they  were 
supplemented  by  the  military  courts. 

"There  was  no  room  for  doubt  that  the  Southern 
states  were  all  in  a  condition  of  economic  demoraliza- 
tion. As  usual  under  such  circumstances,  the  com- 
plaints of  debtors,  based  generally  on  real  hardship  were 
loud  and  widespread.  Not  in  the  Carolinas  alone,  but 
all  through  the  South,  the  demand  for  stay  laws  was 
heard.  It  would  hardly  have  been  surprising  if  all  the 
district  commanders,  in  the  plentitude  of  their  powers 
and  the  benevolence  of  their  hearts,  had  sought  to  bring 
prompt  relief  by  decreeing  new  tables.  General  Sickles, 
after  describing  the  distress  due  to  crop  failure  and  debt, 
and  the  'general  disposition  shown  by  creditors  to  en- 
force upon  an  impoverished  people  the  immediate  col- 


ARMY  175 

lection  of  all  claims,'  declared  that  'to  suffer  all  this  to 
go  on  without  restraint  or  remedy  is  to  sacrifice  the 
general  good.'  Accordingly,  he  announced  the  follow- 
ing regulations,  among  others,  to  remain  in  force  until 
the  reconstructed  governments  should  be  established. 
Imprisonment  for  debt  was  prohibited.  The  institution 
or  continuance  of  suits,  or  the  execution  of  judgments, 
for  the  payment  of  money  on  causes  of  action  arising 
between  December  19,  1860,  and  May  15,  1865,  was  for- 
bidden. The  sale  of  property  upon  execution  for  liabili- 
ties contracted  before  December  19,  1860,  or  by  foreclo- 
sure of  mortgage  was  suspended  for  one  year.  Advances 
of  capital,  required  'for  the  purpose  of  aiding  the  agri- 
cultural pursuits  of  the  people,'  were  assured  of  protec- 
tion by  the  most  efficient  remedies  contained  in  existing 
law;  and  wages  of  agricultural  labour  were  made  a  lien 
on  the  crop.  A  homestead  exemption  not  to  be  waived, 
was  established  for  any  defendant  having  a  family  de- 
pendent upon  his  labour.  The  currency  of  the  United 
States  was  ordered  to  be  recognized  as  legal  tender. 
Property  of  an  absent  debtor  was  exempted  from  attach- 
ment by  the  usual  process;  and  the  demand  for  bail  in 
suits  brought  to  recover  ordinary  debts,  'known  as  actions 
excontractu,'  was  forbidden. 

"These  sweeping  enactments  were  followed  by  others 
of  a  similar  character.  Having  prohibited  the  manu- 
facture and  regulated  the  sale  of  whiskey  within  the  dis- 
trict, General  Sickles  further  decreed  that  no  action 
should  be  entertained  in  any  court  for  the  enforcement 
of  contracts  made  for  the  manufacture,  sale,  transpor- 
tation, storage  or  insurance  of  intoxicating  liquors.  Hav- 
ing prohibited  discrimination  in  public  conveyances  be- 
tween citizens  'because  of  color  or  caste,'  he  gave  to  any 
one  injured  by  such  discrimination  a  right  of  action  for 


176          OUR  UNITED  STATES 

damages.  Finally,  he  abolished  distress  for  rent,  and 
ordered  that  the  crops  should  be  subject  to  a  first  lien 
for  labor  and  second  lien  for  rent  of  the  land." 

Thus,  in  conjunction  with  the  commissioners  of  the 
Freedmen's  Bureau,  a  wide  range  of  duties  was  per- 
formed by  the  Army — assistance  rendered  to  the  needy, 
schools  organized,  orphan  asylums  established,  medical 
aid  administered,  the  rights  of  citizens  defended,  dis- 
turbances investigated,  besides  attention  to  innumerable 
lesser  duties  devolving  upon  such  authority  under  the 
trying  and  almost  unsupportable  conditions  in  which  the 
South  found  itself. 

Manifold  as  were  these  duties  of  the  district  com- 
manders, they  were  secondary  to  the  main  instructions 
under  which  they  had  been  appointed,  which  emphasized 
the  necessity  of  rendering  "adequate  protection  to  life 
and  property"  and  the  establishment  of  a  new  political 
organization  according  to  the  methods  laid  down  in  the 
acts  of  Congress.  As  a  rule  the  Generals  in  command 
of  the  military  districts  of  the  South  did  not  sympathize 
with  the  radical  measures  of  Congress  and  they  endeav- 
ored to  execute  the  trying  duties  imposed  upon  them 
with  kindness,  firmness  and  absolute  impartiality,  there- 
by occasioning  the  least  possible  suffering  and  incon- 
venience. 

In  their  immediate  duties  toward  the  formation  of 
State  Governments  and  the  registering  of  legal  voters, 
they  endeavored  as  far  as  possible  to  conciliate  rather 
than  antagonize  those  loyal,  well-intentioned  men  whose 
intellectual  abilities  and  personal  attainments  were  at 
every  turn  outraged  by  the  intolerable  conditions  of 
negro  and  "carpet-bag"  rule.  Nevertheless,  it  was  neces- 
sary to  ignore  partisan  consideration,  to  execute  the  laws 
faithfully  without  reference  to  persons  and  to  protect 


ARMY  177 

the  rights  and  liberties  of  all  individuals  whatever  their 
race  or  color. 

During  the  period  of  rehabilitation,  disorder  and  insur- 
rection required  the  constant  presence  of  troops  who 
were  not  infrequently  called  upon  for  prompt  and  vigor- 
ous action.  Missouri  was  the  scene  of  violence  and  dis- 
order in  1866 — when  the  repeated  outrages  committed 
upon  the  negroes  by  lawless  idlers,  whose  repeated  acts 
of  brigandage  had  put  the  community  in  a  state  of  terror, 
required  the  summary  action  of  the  military  authorities, 
who  pursued  and  eventually  drove  the  marauders  out  of 
the  state. 

On  the  16th  of  April  the  same  year,  Norfolk,  Virginia, 
was  the  scene  of  a  bloody  riot  between  discharged  colored 
soldiers  of  the  Union  Army  who  had  purchased  the  arms 
they  had  carried  during  the  war  and  certain  Confederate 
soldiers  who  had  kept  their  organization  and  held  bitter 
hatred  toward  the  late  bondmen.  The  negroes  paraded 
the  streets  on  that  day  in  honor  of  the  passage  of  the 
civil  rights  bill  with  the  result  that  they  were  fired  upon 
by  the  whites,  which  continued  during  the  night,  a  num- 
ber of  men  being  killed  and  open  threats  made  by  large 
bodies  of  men  to  exterminate  the  negroes.  Captain 
Stanhope,  Twelfth  Infantry,  kept  his  men  constantly  on 
duty  to  disperse  the  rioters  and  when  the  outlook  be- 
came more  alarming,  he  sent  for  reinforcements  from 
Fortress  Monroe,  which  quelled  the  disturbance  and 
restored  order. 

New  Orleans,  Mobile,  Memphis,  Franklin,  were  also 
the  scene  of  bitter  class  hatred  resulting  in  the  burning 
of  negro  school  houses,  churches  and  dwellings,  and  the 
shooting,  maltreating  and  killing  of  all  who  resisted. 
At  Memphis,  General  Stoneman  assumed  military  con- 
trol, suspended  the  civil  power,  and  stationed  United 


178          OUR  UNITED  STATES 

States  troops  at  various  points  throughout  the  city. 
These  men  were  given  strict  orders  to  break  up  the  small- 
est assemblages  of  rioters  and  were  kept  constantly  on 
duty  for  forty-eight  hours,  when  they  were  relieved 
by  re-enforcements  from  Nashville. 

In  September,  1867,  the  elections  at  Nashville  and 
Memphis  were  the  scene  of  another  outburst  of  popular 
outrage,  which  was  quieted  by  the  presence  of  Federal 
troops. 

While  the  States  were  under  military  control,  it  de- 
volved upon  the  military  officers  to  preserve  peace  at 
all  times,  with  or  without  the  concurrence  of  civil  authori- 
ties. Upon  the  passage  of  the  act  of  Congress,  June  25, 
1868,  which  readmitted  the  Southern  States  and  restored 
them  to  the  legal  status  which  existed  prior  to  secession, 
military  authority  as  laid  down  in  the  reconstruction  acts 
ceased  to  exist  and  commanding  officers  of  posts  or  de- 
tachments were  forbidden  to  interfere  in  civil  affairs, 
unless  upon  proper  application  by  civil  authorities  to 
preserve  the  peace. 

However  pleasing  such  a  state  of  affairs  might  be  to 
the  Southern  whites  in  general,  eight  years  of  intense 
partisan  feeling  had  developed  a  condition  of  lawlessness 
that  soon  developed  into  serious  menace  to  public  safety. 

Congress,  having  assumed  the  formal  reconstruction 
of  the  Southern  States,  enfranchised  the  negro,  and 
thereby  temporarily  weakened  the  political  power  of  the 
whites.  Secret  organizations  of  rebellious  white  men 
banded  themselves  together  and  gradually  formed  the 
nucleus  of  a  masked  army  whose  oaths  of  perpetual 
secrecy  with  the  penalty  of  death  attached  to  its  viola- 
tion, the  obligation  of  implicit  obedience  to  the  chief  or 
authority  of  the  "inner  circle"  made  these  societies  for- 
midable and  dangerous. 


ARMY  179 

Major-General  Thomas,  in  command  of  the  Depart- 
ment of  the  Cumberland  in  his  report,  dated  October  1, 
1868,  makes  first  official  mention  of  this  masked  army  of 
desperadoes : 

"Accounts  of  it  from  many  sources  were  received  at 
these  headquarters.  The  newspapers  recognized  its 
existence  by  publishing  articles  on  the  subject,  either 
denunciatory  or  with  an  attempt  to  treat  its  proceedings 
as  harmless  jokes,  according  to  the  political  opinions  of 
their  editors.  The  assistant  commissioner  of  the  Bureau 
of  Refugees,  Freedmen,  and  Abandoned  Lands  for 
Tennessee  in  his  reports,  copies  of  which  were  furnished 
me,  narrated  many  of  the  proceedings  of  the  organiza- 
tion, whose  acts  were  shown  to  be  of  a  lawless  and  dia- 
bolical nature.  Organized  companies  of  men,  mounted 
and  armed,  horses  and  riders  being  disguised,  patrolled 
the  country,  making  demonstrations  calculated  to  frighten 
quiet  citizens,  and  in  many  instances  abused  and  outraged 
them,  especially  that  class  of  colored  people  who  by  their 
energy,  industry,  and  good  conduct  are  most  prominent. 

"I  did  not  think  it  necessary  to  take  any  action  on  the 
information  furnished  until  the  month  of  March,  when 
a  member  of  the  legislature  of  Tennessee  sent  me  a  writ- 
ten statement  of  the  doings  of  this  organization,  saying 
it  carried  terror  and  dismay  throughout  the  country ; 
that  the  civil  authorities  were  powerless  and  appeared 
terror  struck;  that  his  own  life  was  threatened,  and  asked 
if  something  could  not  be  done  by  the  General  Govern- 
ment to  protect  the  community ;  if  not,  there  was  danger 
of  a  bloody  collision." 

"From  the  numerous  cases  of  murder  and  outrage  per- 
petrated upon  the  negroes  and  those  who  befriended  them 
during  the  days  of  the  reconstruction,"  writes  General 
Howard,  "which  were  reported  to  my  officers  and  were 


180          OUR  UNITED  STATES 

by  them  recorded  with  the  different  circumstances  attend- 
ing them,  it  is  now  clear  that  the  main  object  from  first 
to  laSt  was  somehow  to  regain  and  maintain  over  the 
negro  that  ascendency  which  slavery  gave,  and  which 
was  being  lost  by  emancipation,  education,  and  suffrage. 
"Our  work  of  establishing  schools  went  steadily  on," 
continues  the  General.  "Early  in  1868,  however,  was  the 
first  appearance  in  my  Bureau  school  reports  of  an  offen- 
sive secret  organization.  It  was  from  Charlestown,  W. 
Va.  Our  workers  received  a  note  from  the  'Ku-Klux- 
Klan.'  Not  a  white  family  there  after  that  could  be 
found  willing  to  board  the  excellent  lady  teachers.  At 
Frostburg,  a  male  teacher  was  threatened  with  violence. 
The  Klan  sent  him  notes  ordering  him  to  depart.  Loyal 
West  Virginians,  however,  stood  by  him  and  he  did  not 
go.  In  Maryland,  also,  one  teacher  was  warned  and 
forced  to  leave.  The  Klan  signed  their  rough  document 
which  was  placed  in  his  hand,  'Ku-Klux-Klan.'  The  face 
of  the  envelope  was  covered  with  scrawls;  among  these 
were  the  words:  'Death!  Death!'  By  a  similar  method 
a  teacher  at  Hawkinsville,  Ga.  (a  coloured  man)  was 
dealt  with  by  menace  and  afterwards  seriously  wounded. 
The  Georgia  superintendent  wrote  that  for  the  last  three 
months,  April,  May  and  June,  1868,  there  had  been  more 
bitterness  exhibited  toward  all  men  engaged  in  the  work 
of  education  than  ever  before;  and  there  were  few  but 
had  received  threats,  both  anonymous  and  open.  Sev- 
eral freedmen  had  abandoned  their  fields  from  fear.  The 
cry  from  Alabama  was  even  more  alarming.  People 
from  a  distance  could  not  comprehend  the  feeling; 
school  houses  were  burned  and  those  left  standing  were 
in  danger ;  teachers  were  hated  and  maltreated,  two  being 
driven  from  their  work.  'The  truth  is,'  they  cried,  'we 
are  in  the  midst  of  a  reign  of  terror.'  But  Louisiana  ex- 


ARMY  181 

ceeded :  Miss  Jordan's  school  at  Gretna  was  entered 
by  ruffians ;  the  walls  of  her  room  covered  with  obscene 
pictures  and  language,  and  threats  against  the  teacher 
posted ;  she  was  insulted  on  the  ferry  and  in  the  streets, 
and  even  annoyed  in  such  a  small  way  as  to  be  required 
to  pay  twice  as  much  ferriage  as  the  teachers  in  the  white 
schools.  In  Markville,  the  Ku-Klux-Klan  made  open 
demonstrations,  but  always  by  night.  They  posted  their 
documents  around  the  town,  so  terrifying  the  colored 
people  that  they  did  not  dare  leave  their  homes  after 
dark.  In  Texas,  both  at  Georgetown  and  Circleville,  the 
schools  were  similarly  closed  out;  at  the  latter  place  the 
school  edifice  was  burned  to  the  ground." 

Cruelties  were  not  limited  to  the  teachers  of  negroes, 
but  included  white  men  in  political  office.  One  William 
Cooper,  an  agent  of  the  Freedman's  Bureau,  was  shot 
in  his  own  house.  The  lifeless  bodies  of  negroes  were 
found  dangling  from  trees  in  front  of  their  cabin  doors. 
It  was  estimated  by  General  Forest  that  no  less  than 
40,000  men  were  banded  together  in  Tennessee  alone. 
The  number  of  murders,  mutilations  and  outrages  perpe- 
trated by  these  outlaws  is  unbelievable.  The  records  of 
the  War  Department  show  that  in  Alabama  alone  the 
total  number  of  proven  cases  of  individual  violence  was 
371,  of  which  33  were  murders  in  the  year  1868-69.  In 
Mississippi  31  murders  were  committed  within  the  same 
period. 

A  riot  occurring  in  Unionville,  S.  C,  January  12,  1871, 
United  States  troops  were  sent  to  quiet  the  disturbance, 
prior  to  which  the  Ku-Klux-Klan,  numbering  400  to  800, 
stormed  the  jail,  took  out  and  shot  some  of  the  prisoners, 
raided  the  county  treasury  and  tore  up  the  railway  tracks 
to  obstruct  the  arrival  of  the  troops. 

The  outcome  of  the  persistent  outrages  to  the  negroes 


182  OUR  UNITED  STATES 

and  those  in  sympathy  with  them  and  the  constant  call 
for  Federal  aid  by  the  civil  authorities  resulted  in  the 
Force  Act  passed  by  Congress  in  1871  which  empowered 
the  President  to  employ  the  army,  navy  and  militia  for 
the  suppression  of  organizations  designed  to  intimidate 
the  negro  and  deprive  him  of  the  right  to  vote  unmo- 
lested and  in  security.  It  declared  that  such  organisa- 
tions appearing  with  arms  constituted  rebellion  against 
the  United  States,  and  the  President  was  empowered 
"when  in  his  judgment  the  public  safety  shall  require  it, 
to  suspend  the  privilege  of  habeas  corpus,  to  the  end  that 
such  rebellion  may  be  overthrown."  (Act  April  20, 
1871,  Sec.  4.)  United  States  marshals  were  authorized 
to  supervise  State  registrations  and  elections  with  the 
aid  of  United  States  military  and  naval  forces. 

The  3rd  of  May,  1871,  President  Grant  issued  a  procla- 
mation urging  all  citizens  of  the  land  to  suppress  all  such 
armed  combinations  and  upon  their  failure  to  do  so  the 
National  Government  would  put  forth  all  its  energies  for 
the  protection  of  its  citizens  of  every  race  and  color  in 
order  to  restore  peace  throughout  the  entire  country. 

A  second  proclamation  was  issued  October  12th,  nam- 
ing numerous  counties  where  combinations  were  so  pow- 
erful as  to  be  able  to  defy  the  local  authorities,  enjoining 
upon  his  people  "to  retire  peaceably  to  their  homes  within 
five  days  of  the  date  hereof,  and  to  deliver,  either  to  the 
marshal  of  the  United  States  for  the  district  of  South 
Carolina,  or  to  any  of  his  deputies,  or  to  any  military  offi- 
cer of  the  United  States  within  said  counties,  all  arms, 
ammunition,  uniforms,  disguises,  and  other  means  and 
implements  used,  kept,  possessed,  or  controlled  by  them 
for  carrying  out  the  unlawful  purposes  for  which  the 
combinations  and  conspiracies  are  organized." 

This  second  proclamation  having  no  better  results  than 


ARMY  183 

the  first,  Grant  proceeded  to  more  drastic  measures, 
suspended  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus — in  the  counties 
named  in  his  proclamation,  hurried  Federal  troops  to 
the  scene,  scattered  these  in  small  detachments  at  the 
principal  points  of  danger  and  summarily  arrested,  tried, 
and  if  convicted,  fined  or  imprisoned  large  numbers  of 
the  perpetrators  of  the  insurrectionary  movement. 

The  New  Orleans  riots  in  the  years  1871-72  were  the 
outcome  of  strong  political  antagonisms  centering  on  the 
contest  between  the  supporters  and  opponents  of  Gover- 
nor H.  C.  Warmouth.  The  Republican  convention  was 
to  be  held  in  the  custom-house  the  9th  of  August,  1871. 
On  the  morning  of  that  date  an  armed  mob  of  from  3,000 
to  5,000  whites  and  blacks  collected  about  the  custom- 
house and  became  so  threatening  in  their  demonstrations 
that  General  Emory,  the  department  commander,  ordered 
three  companies  of  infantry,  with  two  Catling  guns  to 
push  through  the  infuriated  mob,  station  themselves  at 
the  custom-house  and  there  preserve  the  peace  under  all 
contingencies.  The  effect  of  this  prompt  action  of  only 
one  hundred  and  fifty  soldiers  in  the  uniform  of  author- 
ity resulted  in  dispersing  the  mob. 

Upon  the  opening  of  the  legislature  the  following  Janu- 
ary rival  factions  within  and  without  the  capitol  building 
succeeded  in  precipitating  a  general  condition  of  disor- 
derly revolt.  They  defied  the  Governor's  proclamation 
in  which  he  declared  his  intention  of  taking  possession 
of  the  Capitol.  General  Emory  was  again  called  upon 
to  prevent  bloodshed  by  the  interposition  of  Federal 
troops. 

General  Grant's  second  term  was  a  continuation  of  the 
problems  which  had  perplexed  the  first.  The  troubles  in 
Louisiana  reached  their  height  in  1874  in  the  disputed 
election  of  Governor  Kellogg,  which  culminated  in  the 


184  OUR  UNITED  STATES 

outrageous  murder  of  six  objectionable  officials  at  Con- 
shatta,  in  the  Red  River  Parish.  These  white  men  were 
set  upon  by  a  mob,  bound  together  in  twos,  marched  to  a 
field  beyond  the  parish  line,  killed  in  cold  blood,  and 
their  bodies  buried  where  they  fell.  President  Grant 
immediately  took  steps  to  send  military  assistance  to  the 
civil  authorities.  Meanwhile  the  defeated  candidate  for 
Lieutenant  Governor  in  1872,  Mr.  D.  B.  Penn,  issued  a 
proclamation  in  which  he  claimed  to  be  the  lawful  execu- 
tive and  calling  upon  the  militia  of  the  state  "to  arm 
and  assemble  under  their  respective  officers  for  the  pur- 
pose of  driving  the  usurpers  from  power." 

Between  2,000  and  3,000  armed  men  assembled  in 
response  to  Penn's  order.  Barricades  were  erected  in 
the  streets  of  New  Orleans.  About  500  Metropolitan 
police  with  several  pieces  of  artillery  under  General 
James  Longstreet,  the  commander  of  militia  under  Gov- 
ernor Kellogg,  met  the  opposing  forces  and  fire  was 
opened  on  both  sides  with  the  result  that  32  men  were 
killed  and  48  severely  wounded.  By  nightfall  the  same 
day  10,000  men  were  assembled  and  took  possession  of  the 
city.  Penn  was  formally  inducted  into  office.  United 
States  troops  were  speedily  despatched  to  New  Orleans. 
General  Emory  demanded  the  immediate  surrender  of  all 
State  property  and  the  disbanding  of  the  insurgents. 
This  was  complied  with  under  protest.  Lieutenant  Col. 
John  R.  Brooke  was  appointed  "to  command  the  city  of 
New  Orleans  until  such  time  as  the  State  and  city  gov- 
ernments can  be  recognized;  to  take  possession  of  the 
arms  and  other  State  property,  and  to  occupy  the  State 
house,  arsenal,  and  other  State  buildings  until  further 
orders."  The  Kellogg  government  was  reinstated  and 
troops  secured  quiet  at  the  polls  in  the  November 
elections.  Nevertheless,  intense  excitement  prevailed 


ARMY  185 

throughout  the  state.  The  Republicans  were  again  in 
power  in  spite  of  the  vehement  protest  of  the  Democrats 
who  claimed  victory.  In  anticipation  of  trouble  upon 
the  convening  of  the  legislature  in  January,  1875,  Presi- 
dent Grant  appointed  General  Sheridan  in  command  of 
New  Orleans.  Precautionary  measures  resulted  in  the 
stationing  of  troops  around  the  State  house  and  the  leg- 
islature assembled  on  the  morning  of  January  4th.  The 
leaders  of  the  opposition,  lawfully  or  unlawfully  pro- 
ceeded to  take  control. 

"One  Wiltz  jumped  on  the  platform,  seized  the  speak- 
er's chair  and  gavel,  and  declared  himself  speaker.  On 
motions  from  the  floor,  and  without  ballots,  he  in  the 
same  way  declared  other  gentlemen  elected  secretary  and 
sergeant-at-arms,  and  having  directed  the  latter  to  appoint 
assistants,  a  hundred  or  more  men  scattered  about  the 
hall,  suddenly  opened  their  coats,  displaying  badges  on 
which  was  inscribed  'assistant  sergeant-at-arms,'  and  the 
minority  were  in  possession  of  the  legislature.  The  ex- 
citement was  intense ;  knives  and  pistols  were  drawn ; 
several  fisticuffs  occurred ;  the  shooting  was  so  deafening 
that  little  could  be  heard." 

"In  all  this  turmoil,"  says  General  Sheridan  in  his 
despatch  to  Secretary  Belknap,  January  8,  1875,  "in  which 
bloodshed  was  imminent,  the  military  posse  behaved  with 
great  discretion.  When  Mr.  Wiltz,  the  usurping  speaker 
of  the  house,  called  for  troops  to  prevent  bloodshed, 
they  were  given  him.  When  the  governor  of  the  State 
called  for  a  posse  for  the  same  purpose  and  to  enforce 
the  law,  it  was  furnished  also.  Had  this  not  been  done 
it  is  my  firm  belief  that  scenes  of  bloodshed  would  have 
ensued." 

In  a  telegram  to  Secretary  Belknap,  dated  New  Or- 
leans, January  4,  1875,  General  Sheridan  says : 


186  OUR  UNITED  STATES 

"It  is  with  deep  regret  that  I  have  to  announce  to  you 
the  existence  in  this  State  of  a  spirit  of  defiance  to  all 
lawful  authority  and  an  insecurity  of  life  which  is  hardly 
realized  by  the  General  Government  or  the  country  at 
large.  The  lives  of  citizens  have  become  so  jeopardized 
that  unless  something  is  done  to  give  protection  to  the 
people  all  security  usually  afforded  by  law  will  be  over- 
ridden. Defiance  to  the  laws  and  the  murder  of  indi- 
viduals seems  to  be  looked  upon  by  the  community  here 
from  a  standpoint  which  gives  impunity  to  all  who 
choose  to  indulge  in  either,  and  the  civil  government 
appears  powerless  to  punish  or  even  arrest.  I  have  to- 
night assumed  control  over  the  Department  of  the  Gulf." 

A  second  telegram,  dated  January  5,  says  in  part : 

"I  will  preserve  the  peace,  which  it  is  not  to  do  with 
the  naval  and  military  forces  in  and  about  the  city,  and 
if  Congress  will  declare  the  White  Leagues,  and  other 
similar  organizations,  white  or  black,  banditti,  I  will 
relieve  it  from  the  necessity  of  any  special  legislation  for 
the  preservation  of  peace  and  equality  of  rights  in  the 
States  of  Louisiana,  Mississippi,  Arkansas  and  the 
Executive  from  much  of  the  trouble  had  in  this  section 
of  the  country";  to  which  Secretary  Belknap  replied: 

"Your  telegrams  all  received.  The  President  and  all 
of  us  have  full  confidence  and  thoroughly  approve  your 
course." 

General  Sheridan's  determined  attitude  to  regard  all 
insurgents  and  disturbers  of  the  peace  "as  banditti"  and 
to  deal  with  them  as  such,  brought  forth  threats  against 
his  life  and  he  was  in  imminent  danger  of  assassination 
and  the  extermination  of  the  Federal  troops  was  freely 
discussed ;  nevertheless,  it  suppressed  further  public  dem- 
onstrations by  the  rioters.  Congress,  meanwhile,  sent 
committees  to  thoroughly  investigate  the  political  situ- 


ARMY  187 

ation  with  the  result  that  Kellogg  was  recognized  as  the 
legal  governor  of  Louisiana. 

Thus  briefly  and  imperfectly  are  outlined  the  varied 
and  manifold  duties  performed  by  the  army  in  the  South 
alone,  a  comparatively  small  area  of  the  whole  United 
States  during  the  decade  subsequent  to  the  Civil  War. 


CHAPTER  XII 
ALASKA 

THE  acquisition  of  Alaska  was  consummated  June  20, 
1867,  through  the  exertions  of  Baron  Stoekl,  Russian 
minister  to  the  United  States,  and  Mr.  Seward,  Secre- 
tary of  State. 

An  area  comprising  577,390  square  miles,  including 
the  Aleutian  archipelago,  was  thus  added  to  the  terri- 
tory of  the  United  States.  The  price  paid  for  this  vast 
acquisition  was  seven  million  two  hundred  thousand  dol- 
lars, or  about  two  cents  an  acre.  With  the  possession  of 
this  new  domain  the  United  States  flag  was  carried  to 
within  three  hundred  miles  of  the  Siberian  coast  and 
to  within  six  hundred  miles  of  the  coast  of  Japan.  Brig- 
adier-General Lovell  H.  Rousseau,  U.  S.  A.,  was  desig- 
nated by  President  Johnson  as  special  commissioner  to 
receive  from  Captain  Alexis  Petchouroff,  the  commis- 
sioner of  the  Czar,  the  formal  transfer  of  sovereignty. 

The  two  commissioners  met  in  New  York,  proceeded 
by  way  of  Panama  to  San  Francisco  and  were  trans- 
ported to  Sitka  on  board  the  U.  S.  S.  Ossipee,  Captain 
Emmons  commanding;  reaching  New  Archangel,  Octo- 
ber 18,  1867.  At  half  after  three  that  same  afternoon, 
in  the  presence  of  both  American  and  Russian  troops, 
amid  the  firing  of  artillery  salutes,  the  Russian  flag  was 
lowered  and  that  of  the  United  States  raised  upon  the 
flagstaff  and  the  formal  transfer  of  the  country  and 

188 


ARMY  189 

outlying  stations  was  consummated.  The  principal  sta- 
tions thus  acquired  were  Fort  Kenai,  on  the  Kenai  Penin- 
sula, Kadiak,  on  Kadiak  Island;  Sitka,  on  Baranoy 
Island,  and  Fort  Wrangell,  near  the  mouth  of  the  Stikine 
River. 

In  the  report  of  the  committee  on  foreign  affairs,  pub- 
lished May  18,  1868,  are  enumerated  the  motives  which 
made  the  transfer  of  the  Russian  America  desirable  to 
the  interests  of  the  United  States. 

"They  were,  first,  the  laudable  desire  of  citizens  of  the 
Pacific  coast  to  share  in  the  prolific  fisheries  of  the 
oceans,  seas,  bays,  and  rivers  of  the  western  world;  the 
refusal  of  Russia  to  renew  the  charter  of  the  Russian 
American  Fur  Company  in  1866;  the  friendship  of  Rus- 
sia for  the  United  States;  the  necessity  of  preventing 
the  transfer,  by  any  possible  chance,  of  the  northwest 
coast  of  America  to  an  unfriendly  power;  the  creation 
of  new  industrial  interests  of  our  empire  on  the  sea  and 
land ;  and,  finally,  to  facilitate  and  secure  the  advantages 
of  an  unlimited  American  commerce  with  the  friendly 
powers  of  Japan  and  China." 

Prior  to  our  possession  the  Russo-American  Fur  Com- 
pany held  undisputed  sway  over  Alaska.  This  company 
controlled  all  coastwise  trade,  had  leased  certain  advan- 
tageous rights  to  the  Hudson  Bay  Company  and  had 
used  every  effort  to  prevent  the  Russian  government 
from  learning  the  value  of  their  possession.  The  search 
for  minerals  was  prevented  and  only  information  con- 
nected with  the  fur  trade  was  permitted  to  be  published. 

Upon  our  coming  into  possession  of  the  territory,  the 
entire  commercial  interest  of  the  country  consisted  of 
its  fisheries  along  the  coast,  and  the  trade  in  peltries 
brought  in  to  the  various  stations,  by  the  natives  from 
the  interior.  This  interior  was  considered  a  valueless 


190  OUR  UNITED  STATES 

wilderness  inhabited  by  lawless  tribes  of  Indians.  Few 
citizens  of  the  United  States  appreciated  the  fact  that 
we  had  acquired  one  of  the  great  rivers  of  the  world, 
rising  in  the  interior  of  the  Northwest  and  flowing  a  dis- 
tance of  two  thousand  miles  into  the  sea.  The  resources 
of  the  Yukon  and  its  tributaries,  the  tribes  of  Indians 
inhabiting  its  banks  were  neither  heeded  nor  dreamed  of. 

In  1842,  Lieutenant  Zagoskin,  of  the  Russian  Navy, 
had  visited  the  region  of  the  Yukon  and  travelled  from 
the  mouth  of  the  river  to  a  point  above  Nulato,  "covering 
a  distance  of  about  six  hundred  miles. 

The  enterprise  of  the  Western  Union  Telegraph  Com- 
pany in  its  desire  to  connect  by  telegraph  and  cable  the 
two  hemispheres  at  Behring  Strait,  had  employed  a  large 
force  of  explorers  in  locating  an  overland  route  on  both 
sides  of  the  Pacific  and  in  connection  with  this  enter- 
prise had  acquired  much  valuable  information  as  to  the 
resources  of  Alaska.  Messrs.  Ketchum  and  Labarge  of 
the  telegraph  company  journeyed  from  the  western  coast 
of  Fort  Yukon  in  1866.  The  following  Winter  they 
made  another  journey  to  Fort  Yukon,  continuing  their 
journey  400  miles  to  Fort  Selkirk. 

Messrs.  William  H.  Dall,  director  of  the  scientific 
corps  of  the  telegraph  company,  with  Mr.  Frederick 
Whymper,  an  officer  of  the  company  and  an  artist,  win- 
tered at  Nulato  in  1866  and  in  the  following  Spring  pur- 
sued their  journey  to  Fort  Yukon.  They  journeyed  in 
"bidarras,"  or  skin  boats,  and  travelled  almost  con- 
stantly for  a  period  of  twenty-nine  days.  Leaving  Fort 
Yukon  at  the  end  of  a  fortnight  they  made  a  rapid  jour- 
ney to  St.  Michael  Island.  For  more  than  twenty  years 
Fort  Yukon  had  been  the  extreme  western  trading  sta- 
tion of  the  Hudson  Bay  Company  and  the  supposed 
boundary  between  Russian  and  British  America,,  Though 


ARMY  191 

the  upper  portion  of  the  river  as  far  as  Fort  Selbrick 
was  known  to  the  traders,  few  had  ventured  beyond. 
The  Russians  were  uncertain  of  the  boundaries  of  their 
territory  and  too  indifferent  to  prove  the  claim  that  the 
establishment  of  Fort  Yukon  was  in  direct  violation  of 
the  treaty  between  Russia  and  England. 

Secretary  Seward's  instructions  to  General  Rousseau 
included  the  appointment  of  military  commander  of  the 
newly  acquired  territory.  General  Rousseau  was  shortly 
promoted  to  the  command  of  the  Department  of  Colum- 
bia, with  headquarters  at  Portland,  Oregon,  and  the  com- 
mand of  the  military  district  of  Alaska  was  given  to 
General  Jefferson  C.  Davis,  with  headquarters  at  Sitka, 
and  a  garrison  of  one  company  of  artillery  and  one  com- 
pany of  infantry,  numbering  two  hundred  and  fifty 
men. 

A  number  of  business  men  had  accompanied  or  pre- 
ceded the  commissioners  of  the  two  governments,  and  the 
American  flag  was  scarcely  floating  from  the  top  of  the 
flagstaff  before  new  shops  were  opened,  vacant  lots  cov- 
ered with  framework  of  shanties  and  negotiations  entered 
into  for  the  purchase  of  houses,  furs,  and  other  property 
of  the  old  Russian  company,  and  in  less  than  a  week  new 
stores  had  been  erected,  and  two  ten-pin  alleys,  two 
drinking  saloons  and  a  restaurant  were  opened. 

Sitka,  the  town  that  for  two-thirds  of  a  century  had 
known  nothing  beyond  the  dull,  unchanging  routine  of 
labor,  and  a  scanty  supply  of  necessaries  at  prices  fixed 
by  a  corporate  body  8,000  or  10,000  miles  away,  was 
profoundly  startled  even  by  this  small  ripple  of  innova- 
tion. To  the  new  American  domain  flocked  a  herd  of 
men  of  all  sorts  and  conditions,  Alaskan  pioneers  and 
squatters,  and  aspirants  for  political  honors  and  emolu- 
ments in  this  new  Territory. 


192  OUR  UNITED  STATES 

Before  the  first  sunset  gun  was  fired  pre-emption  stakes 
dotted  the  ground,  and  the  air  was  full  of  rumors  of 
framing  a  "city  charter,"  creating  laws  and  remunerative 
offices;  and  it  was  not  long  before  an  election  was  held 
for  town  officers,  at  which  over  100  votes  were  polled  for 
nearly  as  many  candidates.  The  Russian  population 
looked  with  wonder  upon  this  new  activity.  The  families 
of  the  higher  officials,  as  well  as  those  of  the  farmer  and 
laboring  classes,  opened  their  houses  to  the  newcomers 
with  true  Russian  hospitality ;  but  unfortunately  they  did 
not  discriminate,  treating  officers,  merchants  and  sol- 
diers alike,  and  in  many  instances  their  kindness  was 
shamefully  abused.  Robberies  and  assaults  were  the 
order  of  the  day,  or,  rather,  of  the  night,  until  the  peace- 
able inhabitants  were  compelled  to  lock  their  doors  at 
nightfall,  not  daring  to  move  about  until  the  bugles 
sounded  in  the  morning. 

A  number  of  representatives  of  wealthy  firms  and 
corporations  had  started  upon  a  race  from  San  Francisco 
or  the  Sandwich  Islands  to  secure  the  property  and  good 
will  of  the  Russian  American  Company.  Mr.  H.  M. 
Hutchinson,  representative  of  the  firm  of  Hutchinson, 
Kohl  and  Co.,  was  the  successful  competitor,  he  having 
completed  his  bargain  with  Prince  Maksutof  even  before 
the  agent  of  the  American-Russian  or  Ice  Company,  the 
previous  partners  of  the  Russians,  had  been  able  to  pre- 
sent his  claims.  The  Russian-American  Company  was 
allowed  two  years  in  which  to  settle  its  affairs  and  to 
transport  all  the  Russian  subjects  who  wished  to  return. 
For  this  purpose  all  the  employes  distributed  through 
the  territory  were  collected  at  Sitka.  From  the  time  of 
the  transfer  to  .1869,  nearly  1,000  of  them  were  living 
there;  and  to  these  between  $40,000  and  $50,000  were 
paid  every  month  as  salaries,  which  being  regularly  spent 


ARMY  193 

before  the  next  pay  day,  made  business  decidedly  brisk. 
In  addition  to  these  Russians  there  were  two  companies 
of  soldiers  and  a  few  hundred  American  and  other 
traders,  while  a  man-of-war  and  a  revenue  cutter  were 
always  in  the  harbour,  yielding  a  golden  harvest  to  busi- 
ness men  and  saloon  keepers.  At  this  time  high  hopes 
of  Alaska's  future  prospects  were  entertained.  The 
Western  Union  Telegraph  enterprise,  before  its  abandon- 
ment, had  pushed  its  wires  to  Columbia,  to  Fort  Stager, 
on  the  Skeena  River,  in  53°  30'.  This  brought  the  tele- 
graph within  350  miles  of  Sitka. 

Difficulties  with  the  Indians  in  southeastern  Alaska 
began  at  an  early  day  under  the  new  government.  The 
last  acts  of  hostility  committed  by  the  Kolosh  at  that 
vicinity  had  occurred  in  1864,  when  an  English  vessel, 
called  the  Royal  Charlie,  was  boarded  by  the  Kekh 
Indians  and  the  entire  crew  slaughtered.  The  Russian 
authorities  took  no  notice  of  the  affair  whatever,  because 
the  English  craft  had  no  right  to  trade  in  those  waters, 
and  the  offenders  remained  unpunished. 

In  December,  1867,  the  first  trouble  occurred  at  Sitka. 
A  sentry  of  the  garrison  observed  some  Indians  after 
nightfall  with  a  light  in  the  vicinity  of  the  powder  maga- 
zine, and,  hailing  them  without  receiving  an  answer,  he 
fired,  wounding  one  of  the  number.  The  remainder 
decamped,  but  the  next  day  a  demand  was  made  by  the 
chief  for  compensation  for  the  injuries  sustained  by  the 
wounded  man.  General  Davis  refused  to  comply  with 
the  request,  whereupon  the  chief  returned  to  the  village 
and  hoisted  the  English  flag.  Davis  sent  a  messenger 
to  notify  the  chief  that  if  the  foreign  flag  was  not 
removed  by  daylight  on  the  following  day  he  would 
bombard  the  village;  and  when  day  dawned  the  rays  of 
the  sun  illuminated  the  stars  and  stripes  in  place  of  the 


194  OUR  UNITED  STATES 

cross  of  St.  George,  but  the  Indians  were  surly  for  some 
time  after  the  occurrence,  threatening  an  outbreak  occa- 
sionally. 

As  early  as  the  1st  of  March,  1868,  a  newspaper 
appeared  in  San  Francisco,  under  the  name  of  the  Alaska 
Herald.  It  was  published  by  a  runaway  monk  of  the 
Greek  Church,  who  had  never  seen  Alaska,  but  who 
imagined  that  he  was  called  upon  to  declare  himself  a 
champion  of  the  former  Russian  possessions.  A  few 
columns  of  this  sheet  were  published  in  the  Russian 
language,  and  the  most  absurd  proclamations  addressed 
to  the  people  of  Alaska  were  circulated  among  its  readers, 
and  for  some  time  its  publisher  succeeded  in  sowing  the 
seeds  of  discord  and  dissatisfaction  among  the  new  Rus- 
sian speaking  citizens  of  the  United  States  by  telling 
them  as  Americans  they  were  entitled  at  once  to  160 
acres  of  land,  and  that  they  must  not  labor  for  less 
compensation  than  $5  a  day  in  gold,  declaring  with  the 
greatest  effrontery  that  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States  so  provided. 

In  the  meantime  military  garrisons  were  despatched 
to  other  points  in  the  territory  and  located  among  peace- 
able tribes.  A  battery  of  artillery  was  stationed  on  the 
island  of  Kadiak,  and  another  command  from  the  same 
regiment  sailed  from  Washington  Territory  in  June, 
1868,  to  establish  a  military  post  on  Cook  Inlet.  The 
spot  to  be  selected  had  not  been  definitely  indicated  on 
the  charts,  and  while  attempting  to  find  the  proper  place 
a  ship  was  wrecked  upon  a  rock  on  July  16th,  at  the 
mouth  of  what  is  now  called  English  Bay  or  Graham 
Harbour ;  no  lives  were  lost,  but  nothing  else  was  saved. 
After  suffering  much  hardship  the  wrecked  soldiers  were 
rescued  in  the  month  of  August  by  the  steamer  Fideliter 
and  taken  to  Kadiak.  For  many  years  following  the 


ARMY  195 

natives  of  the  vicinity  had  ample  supplies  of  military 
clothing,  rifles  and  other  stores  cast  up  by  the  sea. 

The  first  American  vessel  that  visited  the  seal  islands 
was  owned  by  the  firm  of  William  &  Haven,  of  New 
London.  The  agent  and  commander  landed  on  St.  Paul 
Island  on  the  13th  of  April,  1868,  and  on  the  2nd  of 
September  sailed  for  the  Sandwich  Islands  with  a  rich 
cargo  of  seal  skins.  Disputes  arose  between  this  party 
and  the  agent  of  the  successors  of  the  Russian-American 
Company,  and  the  Government  found  it  necessary  to  sta- 
tion Treasury  agents  on  the  island  to  preserve  order  and 
prevent,  if  possible,  an  indiscriminate  slaughter  of  seals. 

In  February,  1868,  the  first  detachment  of  Russians 
homeward  bound  left  Sitka,  numbering  200,  on  the  ship 
Tsaritza. 

The  Indians  on  the  Upper  Yukon  River  and  in  the 
vicinity  of  Nulato  gave  indications  of  hostile  spirit  at 
the  beginning  of  the  year  1868.  The  epidemic  pneu- 
monia was  prevalent  among  them,  and  their  shamans 
declared  to  the  people  that  the  disease  had  been  imported 
and  spread  by  the  white  men.  The  Redonte  Nulato  had 
previously  been  the  scene  of  bloody  encounters,  as  in 
1851,  when  Lieutenant  Barnard,  royal  navy,  one  of  the 
members  of  the  Franklin  Search  expedition,  was  killed. 
Several  murders  occurred  among  these  Indians  during 
the  first  year  of  the  American  possession,  but  the  white 
traders  were  not  attacked,  though  frequently  threatened. 
In  the  meantime  the  military  authorities  at  Sitka  con- 
tinued to  have  difficulty  in  the  immediate  vicinity.  It  is 
the  time-honored  custom  of  the  Thinklet  to  demand 
money  or  goods  for  the  death  or  injury  of  a  member  of 
the  tribe,  and  failing  to  receive  the  desired  equivalent 
they  retaliate  with  violence. 

On  the  29th  of  April,  1869,  the  first  number  of  the 


196          OUR  UNITED  STATES 

Sitka  Times  was  published  at  Sitka,  by  T.  G.  Murphy, 
who  combined  the  vocations  of  tailor,  lawyer,  and  editor. 
The  little  sheet  was  the  organ  of  an  aspirant  for  guberna- 
torial honours,  through  whose  efforts  the  city  government 
was  organized  in  Sitka,  with  W.  S.  Dodge  as  mayor. 

The  new  government  labored  under  difficulties,  being 
confronted  at  every  step  with  military  orders  threaten- 
ing arrest  and  confinement  in  the  guard-house.  A  truce 
between  the  contending  powers  was  observed  during  the 
visit  of  Secretary  Seward,  in  the  month  of  July,  1869, 
who  came  to  view  the  purchase  so  intimately  connected 
with  his  name.  Congratulatory  speeches  were  exchanged 
between  Mr.  Seward,  the  military  commander,  and  the 
"mayor  and  board  of  aldermen." 

General  Thomas,  who  was  then  in  command  of  the 
military  division  of  the  Pacific,  made  a  tour  of  inspec- 
tion throughout  the  territory,  and  after  careful  investiga- 
tion of  the  state  of  affairs  deemed  it  wise  to  abandon 
all  military  posts  in  Alaska  with  the  exception  of  that  at 
Sitka. 

The  year  was  not  to  end,  however,  without  additional 
difficulties  with  the  Indians  of  southeastern  Alaska.  An 
occurrence  took  place  at  Fort  Wrangell  which  delayed 
the  abandonment  of  that  post  for  some  time.  Some 
white  miners  passing  the  place  had  sold  liquor  to  the 
Indians  about  the  fort,  and  one  of  the  drunken  savages 
beat  his  squaw  until  the  blood  rushed  from  her  mouth. 
The  post  trader,  Leon  Smith,  interfered  and  had  the 
woman  carried  into  the  house  of  one  of  the  laundresses 
of  the  garrison.  The  brutal  husband  then  feigned 
regret  for  the  ill-treatment  of  his  wife,  and  offered  to 
shake  the  hands  of  the  laundress  who  had  protected  her. 
During  this  friendly  ceremony  he  suddenly  seized  one 
of  the  woman's  fingers  in  his  mouth  and  bit  it  off,  and 


ARMY  197 

then  fled  for  the  Indian  village.  A  detachment  of  sol- 
diers was  sent  to  arrest  him,  but  the  Indians  displayed 
considerable  hostility.  The  trader  Smith  then  set  out 
for  the  village,  hoping  to  pacify  the  savages,  but,  after 
advancing  a  few  steps,  he  was  shot  down.  After  con- 
siderable delay,  and  bombardment  of  the  Indian  village 
from  the  garrison,  the  murderer  was  delivered,  tried 
by  court-martial,  and  hanged,  the  chief  of  the  tribe 
acquiescing  in  the  sentence. 

During  the  year  1870  the  western  military  garrisons 
were  withdrawn. 

In  the  year  1874  an  attempt  was  made  to  colonize 
Alaska  with  Icelanders,  who  were  then  leaving  their  own 
country  in  large  numbers,  and  two  of  these  people  were 
taken  to  Alaska  in  a  United  States  man-of-war,  and 
given  every  opportunity  to  view  the  country.  They  were 
pleased  with  what  they  saw,  declaring  that  the  Kadiak 
Archipelago  and  the  coast  of  Cook  Inlet  were  far  superior 
in  natural  resources  to  their  former  home,  but  before 
their  favorable  report  was  in  the  hands  of  the  Govern- 
ment their  people  had  found  more  pleasant  homes  in  the 
Western  States  and  in  the  British  possessions.  The 
Alaska  Commercial  Company  at  that  time  offered  to 
transport  a  colony  of  500  Icelanders  to  any  portion  of 
Alaska  free  of  charge,  but  unfortunately  the  offer  was 
not  accepted,  and  the  opportunity  of  securing  additional 
permanent  population  for  at  least  some  portions  of  Alaska 
passed  away.  During  the  same  year  four  miners  from 
the  Cassias  "digging"  in  British  Columbia,  made  their 
way  to  the  headwaters  of  the  Yukon  and  descended  that 
stream.  They  discovered  small  "prospects"  of  gold  in 
a  few  localities,  but  found  it  more  profitable  to  engage 
in  the  fur  trade. 

In  the  beginning  of  the  year   1874  the  garrison   at 


198  OUR  UNITED  STATES 

Wrangell  was  withdrawn,  but  owing  to  disorder  among 
the  natives  it  was  re-established  the  following  year. 

During  the  years  following  several  bills  were  intro- 
duced in  Congress  looking  to  the  establishment  of  some 
sort  of  civil  authority  of  Washington  Territory.  All 
the  various  measures  proposed  fell  through  without  action 
on  the  part  of  Congress  until  1877,  when  the  troops  were 
finally  withdrawn. 

The  first  serious  step  taken  to  ascertain  something  of 
the  interior  of  the  country  was  instituted  in  1869  by 
the  War  Department  in  ordering  a  reconnaissance  by 
Captain  Raymond  of  the  Engineer  Corps,  who  ascended 
the  Yukon  for  the  purpose  of  settling  a  mooted  question 
as  to  whether  Fort  Yukon  was  in  the  domain  of  Great 
Britain  or  was  embraced  in  the  Territory  of  Alaska. 
Prior  to  the  transfer  of  Alaska  to  the  United  States 
this  post  had  been  the  occasion  of  great  financial  loss 
to  the  Russian  Company.  "For  upon  the  opening  of  the 
Yukon  in  the  Spring,"  writes  Captain  Raymond,  "the 
enterprising  and  energetic  Scotchmen  of  the  station  were 
accustomed  to  descend  the  river  for  some  300  miles  to 
a  station  called  Nuclucayette,  where  they  met  the  assem- 
bled Indian  tribes  and  purchased  their  stores  of  winter 
skins  before  the  tardy  Russians,  delayed  by  currents 
and  ice,  could  arrive  at  the  trading  ground.  The  retire- 
ment of  the  Russian- American  Company,  consequent  upon 
the  transfer  of  the  territory  to  the  United  States,  inaugur- 
ated a  new  order  of  things.  Immediately,  several  Amer- 
ican companies  located  small  establishments  upon  the 
river  and  near  the  coast,  and  one  company  sent  up  the 
river  a  small  party,  which  succeeded  after  great  efforts 
in  reaching  a  point  near  Nuclucayette,  and  wintered  oppo- 
site the  mouth  of  the  great  Tanana.  In  the  following 
Spring,  when  the  traders  of  the  Hudson  Bay  Company 


ARMY  199 

paid  their  annual  visit  to  Nuclucayette,  their  right  to 
trade  in  the  'Indian  country'  of  the  United  States  was 
fiercely  contested,  and  they  were  informed  by  the  Amer- 
icans that  any  future  attempt  to  purchase  skins  within 
our  territory  would  be  resisted,  if  necessary,  by  force. 
In  the  Spring  of  1869  a  new  venture  was  projected  by 
capitalists  in  San  Francisco.  It  was  proposed  to  trans- 
port a  small  steamer  upon  the  deck  of  a  sailing  vessel  to 
some  point  near  the  mouth  of  the  river,  and,  launching 
it,  to  ascend,  if  possible,  as  far  as  Fort  Yukon,  trading 
along  the  banks.  In  connection  with  this  enterprise  it 
was  regarded  as  extremely  desirable  that  the  question 
of  English  right  to  trade  in  this  portion  of  our  territory 
should  be  definitely  settled;  and,  as  the  region  in  the 
vicinity  of  Fort  Yukon  was  supposed  to  be  peculiarly 
rich  in  furs,  it  was  also  desired  that  the  position  of  this 
post  should  be  officially  determined,  and,  if  it  was  found 
to  be  within  the  territory  of  the  United  States,  that 
measures  should  be  taken  to  cause  its  abandonment  by 
the  English  company." 

Captain  Charles  P.  Raymond  in  company  with  John  J. 
Major  and  Private  Michael  Foley,  Ninth  United  States 
Infantry  sailed  for  Nualaska  the  9th  of  May,  1869,  and 
then  for  St.  Michael  Island,  the  nearest  position  to  the 
mouth  of  the  Yukon  from  which  point  they  proceeded  in 
the  little  steamer  Yukon  in  company  with  its  officers  and 
some  traders  up  the  great  river.  On  the  31st  of  July 
at  4  P.  M.  they  arrived  at  Fort  Yukon,  distant  1,040 
miles,  thus  successfully  terminating  the  first  journey  by 
steam  ever  made  on  the  Yukon  River. 

"At  Fort  Yukon,"  writes  Captain  Raymond,  "notwith- 
standing the  unpleasant  character  of  our  errand,  we  were 
cordially  welcomed  by  Mr.  John  Wilson,  the  agent  of  the 
Hudson  Bay  Company,  at  the  station.  By  General  Hal- 


200  OUR  UNITED  STATES 

leek's  permission  I  had  consented  temporarily  to  repre- 
sent the  Treasury  Department,  and  under  instructions 
of  that  Department,  on  the  9th  of  August,  at  12  M.,  I 
notified  the  representatives  of  the  Hudson  Bay  Company 
that  the  station  was  the  territory  of  the  United  States; 
that  the  introduction  of  trading  goods,  or  any  trade  by 
foreigners  with  the  natives  was  illegal,  and  must  cease, 
and  that  the  Hudson  Bay  Company  must  vacate  the 
buildings  as  soon  as  practicable.  I  then  took  possession 
of  the  buildings  and  raised  the  flag  of  the  United  States 
over  the  fort." 

Captain  Raymond  remained  at  Fort  Yukon  until  late 
in  August,  the  steamer  having  returned  some  time  pre- 
viously. The  journey  back  to  civilization  was  performed 
by  Captain  Raymond  and  his  assistants  in  a  small  row- 
boat  and  by  portage. 

In  General  O.  O.  Howard's  official  report  of  his  visit 
to  Alaska  in  1875,  he  says : 

"Having  been  troubled  by  numerous  newspaper  charges 
concerning  the  present  management  of  affairs  at  Sitka,  I 
deemed  it  best  to  give  to  those  who  were  called  citizens, 
consisting  of  Russians,  Aluets,  half-breeds,  American 
and  foreign  traders,  now  residing  in  the  town,  the 
opportunity  to  see  me  apart  from  the  officers  of  the 
garrison. 

"In  keeping  with  this  purpose  I  met  them  by  appoint- 
ment at  the  house  of  the  United  States  collector,  Mr. 
Berry.  Mr.  Berry  kindly  briefed  the  complaints,  which 
I  subsequently  carefully  considered  and  acted  upon.  The 
complaints  did  not  prove  to  be  of  much  importance;  cer- 
tainly not  very  grievous.  To  remedy  the  real  ills  of  the 
complainants,  most  of  whom  were  indigent  people,  I  ad- 
vised Major  Campbell  to  introduce  a  few  police  regula- 
tions, establish  a  general  hospital,  and  raise  a  small  rev- 


ARMY  201 

enue,  just  sufficient  to  meet  the  necessities,  and  detail  one 
of  his  humane  officers  to  act  in  the  capacity  of  a  police 
judge.  I  did  not  order  these  things,  because,  as  military 
commander  I  wished  to  assume  no  doubtful  powers,  but 
was  confident  that  the  law  under  which  Major  Campbell 
was  to  exercise  jurisdiction  as  Indian  agent  in  an  Indian 
country  would  warrant  his  doing  everything  that  human- 
ity required  for  the  relief  of  a  community  suffering 
from  being  within  the  limits  of  the  United  States  and 
yet  absolutely  without  law. 

"The  instructions  from  General  Halleck,  and  trans- 
mitted from  one  commanding  officer  to  another,  did  imply 
that  military  government  should  be  extended  to  the 
Alaska  people  till  Congress  should  otherwise  provide. 
But  the  late  decision  of  the  Hon.  Judge  Deady,  United 
States  District  Court,  limiting  military  jurisdiction  to  the 
execution  of  the  liquor  law,  made  it  necessary  to  be  ex- 
ceedingly cautious.  I  wish  to  renew  my  earnest  recom- 
mendation that,  by  proper  and  speedy  legislation,  Alaska 
be  attached  as  a  county  to  Washington  Territory,  or  in 
some  other  way  be  furnished  with  such  a  government 
as  the  treaty  with  Russia  in  the  transfer  plainly  con- 
templated." 

The  unsettled  condition  of  affairs  in  Alaska  continued 
to  cause  concern  to  the  Government.  Troubles  in  Sitka 
reached  a  critical  condition  in  1879.  Each  year  after 
the  military  forces  were  withdrawn  the  number  of  In- 
dians increased ;  while  the  whites  decreased.  Two  vil- 
lages had  grown  up  side  by  side,  one  inhabited  by  several 
hundred  Indians,  another  by  a  smaller  number  of  whites, 
among  both  were  lawless  and  insubordinate  characters. 
Petty  quarrels  remained  unsettled,  and  there  had  grad- 
ually grown  up  on  the  part  of  the  Indian,  a  contempt 
for  the  white  race  which  was  badly  represented,  and  on 


202  OUR  UNITED  STATES 

the  part  of  the  whites  a  fear  of  an  hatred  towards  the 
Indians.  These  quarrels  assumed  importance  when, 
early  in  1879,  a  miner,  who  had  been  involved  in  some 
difficulties  with  the  Indians,  was  killed  by  them.  The 
murderers  were  arrested  and  tried  in  Portland,  Oregon, 
and  one  of  them  was  executed.  While  under  arrest  at 
Sitka,  an  attempt  was  made  to  rescue  them,  which,  how- 
ever, was  frustrated  by  the  acts  of  friendly  Indians.  The 
failure  of  this  attempt  and  the  subsequent  execution  of 
the  criminal  would  have  undoubtedly  resulted,  sooner 
or  later,  in  a  massacre  of  the  whites  but  for  the  pruden- 
tial and  preventive  measures  adopted.  The  prompt 
action  of  Capt.  A.  Court,  of  the  British  ship  Osprey, 
checked  the  rising  trouble,  and  the  arrival  of  the  United 
States  man-of-war  Alaska,  and  the  subsequent  arrival  of 
the  Jamestown,  under  command  of  Commander  L.  A. 
Beardslee,  convinced  the  Indians  that  an  attempt  to 
injure  the  whites  would  be  attended  with  danger.  They 
consequently  refrained  from  such  an  attempt;  but  both 
parties  had,  by  this  time,  come  to  hate  each  other,  and 
there  was  evidenced  among  some  of  the  whites  a  dispo- 
sition to  take  advantage  of  the  presence  of  a  war  vessel 
and  treat  the  Indians  unjustly.  When,  however,  these 
difficulties  were  overcome  a  better  condition  of  things 
was  brought  about. 

Commander  Beardslee  found  the  society  very  much  agi- 
tated by  fear,  and  immediately  organized  such  measures 
of  relief  as  appeared  to  him  to  be  necessary.  He  was 
fortunate  in  being  able  to  restore  quiet,  and  with  the 
co-operation  of  the  collector  of  the  port  and  the  consent 
of  the  citizens,  to  establish  a  system  of  regulations  which 
furnished  the  only  means  of  preserving  peace  and  quiet. 
These  regulations  had  not  the  force  of  law  and  would  in 
all  probability  have  become  ineffectual  if  it  had  not  been 


ARMY  203 

that  they  were  enforced  by  the  presence  of  officers  of 
the  Navy,  backed  by  an  armed  vessel. 

"Important  information  in  relation  to  these  matters 
has  been  heretofore  communicated  by  me  to  Congress," 
writes  Secretary  Thompson  in  his  report  1880,  "with  the 
design  of  showing  the  embarrassments  which  the  depart- 
ment has  experienced  in  being  required  to  deal  with  the 
affairs  of  civil  government,  so  foreign  from  any  of  the 
duties  required  of  it  by  law.  It  has  none  of  the  machin- 
ery necessary  for  the  purpose  under  its  control,  and 
whatsoever  it  does  in  that  direction  must  proceed  alone 
from  military  power.  The  substitution  of  this  for  civil 
authority  is  contrary  to  the  spirit  of  our  institutions, 
and  I  cannot  refrain  from  the  expression  of  the  earnest 
hope  that  Congress  will  speedily  relieve  the  department 
from  the  responsibilities  which  attach  to  its  present 
anomalous  position." 

Commander  Beardslee  and  other  officers  of  the  James- 
town made  trips  to  various  villages,  and,  by  degrees,  the 
good  results  of  this  friendly  intercourse  became  apparent. 

Captain  Beardslee's  good  work  among  the  natives  was 
promoted  by  his  successor,  Captain  Glass,  who  won  the 
respect  of  the  Indians  and  succeeded  in  making  several 
treaties  of  peace  between  hostile  tribes.  Commander 
Lull,  in  the  steamer  Wachusett,  continued  to  maintain 
the  protectorate  in  1881.  In  the  autumn  of  the  following 
year  Captain  Merriman,  commanding  the  Adams,  was 
detailed  for  Alaska  and  performed  the  manifold  duties 
of  "umpire,  judge,  referee,  and  preserver  of  the  peace," 
with  tact  and  discretion.  "Not  infrequently,"  says  Ban- 
croft, "he  was  called  upon  to  save  the  lives  of  persons 
doomed  to  death  for  witchcraft,  and  to  prevent  the 
slaughter  of  slaves  at  funerals  and  potlatches." 

Capt.  J.  B.  Coghlan  succeeded  Captain  Merriman,  in 


204  OUR  UNITED  STATES 

command  of  the  Adams,  and,  the  natives  being  at  peace, 
devoted  his  energies  to  accurate  surveys  of  the  most  fre- 
quented channels  of  the  inside  passage,  "marking  off  with 
buoys  the  channel  through  Wrangell  Narrows  and  Peril 
Straits  and  designating  unknown  rocks  in  Saginaw  Chan- 
nel and  Neva  Strait." 

Lieutenant  H.  C.  Nichols,  commanding  the  U.  S.  Pinta, 
succeeded  Captain  Coghlan  and  was  stationed  at  Sitka 
until  the  middle  of  September,  1884.  Thirty  marines 
were  landed  for  shore  duty.  Lieutenant  Nichols,  while 
in  command  of  the  Hassler,  had  made  valuable  surveys 
of  the  Alexander  Archipelago,  which  formed  the  basis 
for  several  new  charts  in  the  Alaska  Coast  Pilot  of  1883. 

This  same  year  a  Military  Reconnaissance  of  the  Val- 
ley of  the  Yukon  was  undertaken  by  First  Lieutenant 
Frederick  Schwatka  of  the  Third  United  States  Cav- 
alry, assisted  by  George  T.  Wilson,  assistant  surgeon  U. 
S.  A.;  Charles  A.  Roman,  topographical  assistant  U.  S. 
A.;  Sergt.  Charles  Gloster,  Corp.  William  H.  Shircliff, 
Private  John  Roth  and  a  citizen,  J.  B.  Mclntosh. 
Lieutenant  Schwatka,  with  his  party,  travelled  by  raft 
a  distance  of  five  hundred  miles  to  Fort  Selkirk  on  the 
Upper  Yukon. 

Lieutenant  W.  R.  Abercrombie  supplemented  Lieuten- 
ant Schwatka's  explorations  the  following  year.  It  was 
deemed  important  to  ascertain  all  possible  information 
concerning  the  interior  and  the  native  Indians.  The  con- 
flicting interests  of  the  white  and  the  natives  threatened 
to  cause  serious  trouble  to  the  authorities,  and  for  this 
purpose  General  Miles  then  in  charge  of  the  department 
of  Columbia  ordered  several  military  expeditions.  Lieu- 
tenant Abercrombie  made  his  objective  point  the  district 
drained  by  the  Copper  and  Tanana  rivers,  where  he 
endeavored  to  ascertain  as  far  as  practicable  the  num- 


ARMY  205 

bers,  character  and  disposition  of  the  Indians  living  in 
that  section  of  the  country.  He  made  note  of  the  number 
of  tribes  and  clans,  the  districts  they  inhabited,  their  rela- 
tions to  each  other,  their  disposition  toward  the  Russian 
government  of  the  past  and  ascertained  their  position 
toward  the  Government  of  the  United  States.  Other  im- 
portant items  noted  in  his  instructions  were  to  ascertain 
their  means  of  communication,  the  amount  and  kinds  of 
material  of  war  in  their  possession  and  from  whence 
obtained. 

"I  was  expected,"  he  says,  "to  inform  myself  as  to  the 
character  of  the  country  and  the  means  of  sustaining 
a  military  force,  should  one  be  needed  in  the  Territory. 
To  examine  the  kind  and  extent  of  the  native  grasses,  and 
ascertain  if  animals  ordinarily  used  in  military  operations 
could  be  subsisted  and  made  of  service  there ;  to  observe 
the  character  of  the  climate;  to  gather  information  that 
would  be  valuable  to  the  military  service;  to  impress 
the  natives  with  the  friendly  disposition  of  the  Govern- 
ment ;  to  avoid  provoking  the  hostility  of  the  natives,  and 
to  make  a  full  report  as  far  as  possible  of  my  journey, 
and  bring  back  maps,  tracings,  and  field  notes,  relating 
to  the  country  over  which  I  had  travelled." 

Lieutenant  Henry  T.  Allen  of  the  Second  United 
States  Cavalry  with  Sergt.  Cady  Robinson  and  Private 
Fred  W.  Fickett  made  a  reconnaissance  of  the  Copper 
River  and  the  Tanana  River  valleys  in  1885,  covering 
in  their  explorations  a  vast  area  of  little  known  country. 

The  Autumn  of  1896  signalled  world-wide  interest  in 
the  report  of  the  discovery  of  gold  in  large  quantities  in 
the  valley  of  the  Yukon  River.  The  rush  of  miners  who 
flocked  to  this  locality  made  necessary  the  continuous 
operations  of  the  Army  in  the  work  of  policing  and  open- 
ing up  the  interior  for  permanent  settlement.  The  Mili- 


206  OUR  UNITED  STATES 

tary  District,  known  as  the  District  of  the  Lynn  Canal,  in 
southeastern  Alaska  was  established,  February  18,  1898. 

The  unprecedented  growth  of  trade  on  the  Yukon  River 
and  the  necessity  for  the  protection  of  life  and  property 
required  the  establishment  of  a  military  post  at  St.  Mich- 
ael's the  year  previous. 

The  necessity  of  military  protection  to  citizens  on  the 
frontier  was  again  exemplified  in  the  orders  issued  at 
the  War  Department,  Washington,  August  4,  1897,  ad- 
dressed to  Capt.  T.  H.  R.,  Eighth  Infantry,  Seattle, 
Washington. 

"The  President  sends  you,  with  Lieutenant  Richard- 
son, to  the  Alaska  gold  field,  to  which  so  many  are  flock- 
ing, to  investigate  and  report,  as  fully  and  frequently 
as  you  can,  the  condition  of  affairs  and  make  such  recom- 
mendations as  you  may  deem  best.  Make  your  first 
headquarters  at  Circle  City  and  change  location  as  you 
may  find  advantageous.  The  following  points  especially 
to  be  covered  in  your  report: 

"Are  troops  necessary  there,  and  if  so,  for  what  pur- 
pose, etc.? 

"Are  the  civil  authorities  affording  reasonable  protec- 
tion to  life  and  property? 

"Are  the  people  disposed  to  be  law-abiding  or  other- 
wise? 

"Where  are  the  people  locating  and  in  what  num- 
bers? .  .  . 

"Is  there  food  in  the  country  for  the  population  to 
winter  there? 

"These  and  all  other  subjects — military,  civil,  and  com- 
mercial— that  will  be  of  use  and  interest  will  be  covered 
by  your  investigations,  etc.,  etc. 

"By  order  of  the  President. 

"R.  A.  ALGER,  Secretary  of  War" 


ARMY  207 

Rumors  of  starvation  at  Dawson  City  were  immedi- 
ately investigated  at  the  War  Department.  To  estab- 
lish an  All-American  route,  by  which  prospective  settlers 
could  proceed  without  undergoing  the  annoyances  inci- 
dent upon  passing  through  alien  country,  was  the  next 
move  of  the  Secretary  of  War. 

One  expedition  consisting  of  Captain  Bogardus  Edri- 
gal,  Second  Lieutenants  Elmer  W.  Clark  and  Robert 
Field,  and  twenty  men,  Captain  D.  L.  Brainard,  quarter- 
master and  commissary  officer,  First  Lieutenant  Frank- 
lin M.  Kemp,  assistant  surgeon,  acting  Hospital  Steward 
John  G.  Abele,  and  two  privates  of  the  Hospital  Corps, 
with  guides,  proceeded  with  reindeer  sledges  via  Dalton 
trail  to  Dawson,  and  established  a  military  camp  in  the 
vicinity  of  Belle  Isle. 

The  purpose  of  this  expedition  was  to  discover, 
explore  and  mark  a  trail  from  the  Yukon  up  Forty  Mile 
Creek  to  the  Tanana  River,  and  other  practicable  routes 
southward  from  the  Yukon  between  Belle  Isle  and  Circle 
City  to  the  Tanana. 

A  second  expedition  consisting  of  Captain  W.  R.  Aber- 
crombie,  First  Lieutenant  Guy  Preston,  First  Lieutenant 
P.  G.  Lowe,  Second  Lieutenant  R.  M.  Broodfield,  with 
fifteen  enlisted  men  and  several  members  of  the  Hospital 
Corps,  established  a  base  at  Waldes  Inlet,  and  explored 
to  the  junction  of  the  Copper  River  and  tributaries  to  the 
Tanana  River. 

A  third  expedition  consisting  of  Captain  E.  F.  Glenn, 
First  Lieutenant  Henry  G.  Learnard,  Second  Lieutenant 
J.  C.  Castner,  First  Lieutenant  John  S.  Kulp,  and  mem- 
bers of  the  Hospital  Corps  and  nineteen  enlisted  men 
were  ordered  to  proceed  to  Fort  Wells,  Prince  William 
Sound,  Alaska,  there  to  establish  a  camp  and  depot  and 
explore  northeastward  and  northwestward  for  routes 


208  OUR  UNITED  STATES 

toward  Copper  and  Shushitna  Rivers.  This  expedition 
was  ordered  to  re-embark  about  May  1,  1898,  for  Cook 
Inlet,  thence  to  explore  northward  and  endeavor  to  dis- 
cover the  most  direct  and  practicable  route  from  tide 
water  to  one  or  more  crossings  of  the  Tanana  River,  in 
the  direction  of  the  Yukon,  between  Forty  Mile  Creek 
and  Circle  City. 

"As  much  territory  as  possible  will  be  covered  by  each 
expedition,"  concludes  the  orders,  "especially  between 
the  Yukon,  Tanana,  Copper  and  Sushitna  rivers,  and  all 
information  will  be  collected  and  embodied  in  the  reports 
that  may  be  valuable  to  the  development  of  the  country, 
regarding  topographical  features,  available  routes  of 
travel,  feasible  routes  for  railroad  construction,  appro- 
priate and  available  sites  for  military  posts,  mineral 
resources,  timber,  fuel,  products,  capability  of  sustaining 
stock  or  animals  of  any  kind,  and  the  animals  best 
suited  for  service  in  that  country  in  Winter  and  Summer. 
Maps  and,  when  practicable,  photographs  will  accompany 
all  reports." 

In  accordance  with  the  provisions  the  opening  of  a 
military  road  from  Valdez  to  Copper  Center  and  by  the 
most  direct  and  practicable  route  to  Eagle  City  was 
entrusted  to  Captain  W.  R.  Abercrombie  and  his  assist- 
ants in  1899.  His  mission  was  to  triangulate  it,  note 
elevations,  depressions  and  other  features  definitely 
located,  and  properly  mark  it  on  either  side  as  far  as 
practicable,  in  order  that  it  might  be  known  and  used  as 
a  route  of  travel  for  the  public. 

"The  scene  that  followed  the  arrival  of  our  vessel  at 
Valdez,"  writes  Captain  Abercrombie,  "was  one  that  I 
shall  not  soon  forget.  Crowding  aboard  the  steamer 
came  the  Argonauts  of  last  season's  rush  into  the  Copper 


ARMY  209 

River  Valley,  and  who  now  considered  themselves  full- 
fledged  miners,  although  many  of  them  had  never  handled 
either  pick  or  shovel  since  their  entry  into  the  country. 
A  more  motley  looking  crowd  it  would  be  hard  to  imagine. 
They  wore  mackinaw  suits  of  all  varieties  and  colors, 
and  their  clothing  was  faded  and  worn  by  exposure  to 
the  elements  and  their  long  journey  over  the  Valdez 
Glacier  from  the  Copper  River  Valley.  They  seemed  to 
be  badly  demoralized,  and  from  a  hurried  conversation 
I  had  with  six  or  seven  I  had  known  the  year  before,  I 
was  led  to  believe  that  hundreds  were  dying  of  starvation 
and  scurvy  beyond  the  Coast  Range  in  the  Copper  River 
Valley.  Most  of  those  then  in  the  settlement  of  Valdez 
had  little  or  no  money;  but  notwithstanding  this  fact, 
a  wholesale  orgy  was  inaugurated  that  lasted  until  mid- 
night. 

"In  some  way  these  people  became  possessed  of  the 
idea  that  the  Government  contemplated  furnishing  them 
transportation  from  Valdez  to  Seattle,  and  it  was  not  for 
some  days  that  I  could  disabuse  their  minds  of  this  fact. 
That  they  had  passed  a  terrible  winter  was  beyond  all 
question  of  doubt;  that  many  of  their  companions  had 
died  from  scurvy  and  had  been  frozen  to  death  was  in 
evidence  at  the  little  graveyard  that  had  sprung  up  since 
my  departure  the  year  before. 

"One  of  the  first  men  from  whom  I  could  get  an 
intelligent  account  of  the  condition  of  things  was  Quarter- 
master Agent  Charles  Brown,  whose  salutation  to  me 
was,  'My  God,  Captain,  it  has  been  clear  Hell!  I  tell 
you,  the  early  days  of  Montana  were  not  a  mark  to  what 
I  have  gone  through  this  Winter !  It  was  awful !'  Going 
ashore  with  Mr.  Brown,  I  visited  the  various  cabins  in 
which  he  had  housed  some  eighty  or  one  hundred  of 


210  OUR  UNITED  STATES 

these  destitute  prospectors,  and  from  what  I  saw  there 
I  was  satisfied  that,  while  his  remarks  might  have  been 
forcible,  they  were  not  an  exaggeration. 

"Many  of  the  people  I  had  met  and  known  the  year 
before  were  so  changed  in  their  appearance,  with  their 
long  hair  hanging  down  their  shoulders  and  beards  cover- 
ing their  entire  faces,  that  I  do  not  think  I  recognized  one 
of  them.  They  were  crowded  together,  from  fifteen  to 
twenty  in  log  cabins  twelve  by  fifteen,  and  in  the  centre 
of  which  was  a  stove.  On  the  floor  of  the  cabin  at  night 
they  would  spread  their  blankets  and  lie  down,  packed 
like  sardines  in  a  box.  Facilities  for  bathing  there  were 
none.  Most  of  them  were  more  or  less  afflicted  with 
scurvy,  while  not  a  few  of  them  had  frost  bitten  hands, 
faces  and  feet.  Their  footwear  in  some  cases  consisted 
of  the  tops  of  rubber  boots  that  had  been  cut  off  by 
Brown  and  manufactured  into  shoes.  Around  their  feet 
they  had  wound  strips  of  gunny  sacks,  which  were  used 
in  place  of  socks.  Across  the  cabin,  from  side  to  side, 
were  suspended  ropes  on  which  were  hung  various 
articles  of  apparel  that  had  become  wet  in  wallowing 
through  the  deep  snow  and  had  been  hung  up  at  night  to 
dry.  The  odor  emanating  from  these  articles  of  cloth- 
ing, the  sore  feet  of  those  who  were  frozen  and  the 
saliva  and  breath  of  those  afflicted  with  scurvy,  gave 
forth  a  stench  that  was  simply  poisonous,  as  well  as 
sickening,  to  a  man  in  good  health,  and  sure  death  to 
one  in  ill-health. 

"I  at  once  directed  Brown  to  hire  a  cabin,"  continues 
the  Captain,  "in  which  to  organize  a  hospital  and  another 
one  for  a  cook  house,  and  to  employ  a  crew  to  run  both 
places.  I  noticed  in  talking  to  these  people  that  over 
seventy  per  cent,  of  them  were  more  or  less  mentally  de- 
ranged. My  attention  was  first  directed  to  this  fact  by 


ARMY  211 

their  reference  to  a  'glacial  demon.'  One  big,  raw-boned 
Swede,  in  particular,  described  to  me  how  this  demon 
had  strangled  his  son  on  the  glacier,  his  story  being  that 
he  had  just  started  from  Twelve  Mile  Plant  (a  small  col- 
lection of  huts  just  across  the  Coast  Range  of  mountains 
from  Valdez)  with  his  son  to  go  to  the  coast  in  company 
with  other  prospectors.  When  half  way  up  the  summit 
of  the  glacier,  his  son,  who  was  ahead  of  him  hauling  a 
sled,  while  he  was  behind  pushing,  called  to  him,  saying 
that  the  demon  had  attacked  him  and  had  his  arms 
around  his  neck.  The  father  ran  to  his  son's  assistance, 
but,  as  he  described  it,  his  son  being  very  strong,  soon 
drove  the  demon  away,  and  they  passed  on  their  way  up 
toward  the  summit  of  Valdez  Glacier.  The  weather  was 
very  cold  and  the  wind  blowing  very  hard,  so  that  it 
made  travelling  very  difficult  in  passing  over  the  ice  be- 
tween the  huge  crevasses  through  which  it  was  neces- 
sary to  pick  their  way  to  gain  the  summit.  While  in  the 
thickest  of  these  the  demon  again  appeared.  He  was 
said  to  be  a  small  heavy-built  man  and  very  active.  He 
again  sprung  on  the  son's  shoulders,  this  time  with  such 
a  grasp  that,  although  the  father  did  all  he  could  to  re- 
lease him,  the  demon  finally  strangled  the  son  to  death. 
The  old  man  then  put  the  son  on  the  sled  and  brought 
him  down  to  the  Twelve  Mile  Camp,  where  the  other 
prospectors  helped  him  to  bury  him. 

"During  the  recital  of  this  tale  the  old  man's  eyes 
would  blaze  and  he  would  go  through  all  the  actions  to 
illustrate  just  how  he  fought  off  this  imaginary  demon. 
When  I  heard  this  story  there  were  some  ten  or  twelve 
other  men  in  the  cabin,  and  at  that  time  it  would  not  have 
been  safe  to  dispute  the  theory  of  the  existence  of  this 
demon  on  the  Valdez  Glacier,  as  every  man  in  there 
firmly  believed  it  to  be  a  reality. 


212  OUR  UNITED  STATES 

"I  was  informed  by  Mr.  Brown  that  this  was  a  common 
form  of  mental  derangement  incident  to  those  whom  a 
fear  of  scurvy  had  driven  out  over  the  glacier,  where  so 
many  had  perished  by  freezing  to  death. 

"In  pursuance  of  my  instructions,"  says  Captain  Aber- 
crombie,  "to  construct  a  trans-Alaskan  military  road  from 
the  cantonment  at  Port  Valdez  to  Port  Egbert,  Yukon 
River,  I  selected  for  the  personnel  of  this  duty,  men  who 
had  been  formerly  employed  in  rail  and  trail  construction 
through  the  Big  Horn  and  Rocky  Mountains  in  Colorado 
and  Wyoming.  As  a  result,  there  was  brought  together 
a  number  of  men  of  large  experience  in  such  work.  I 
was  authorized  to  employ  a  surveyor  and  an  assistant 
surveyor,  two  topographers,  a  foreman  of  trail  crew, 
four  rock  workers,  two  cooks  and  fifteen  axmen.  This 
authority  was  afterwards  increased  by  the  Acting  Secre- 
tary of  War  so  as  to  provide  for  all  the  unemployed  in 
the  Copper  River  district. 

"During  the  Summer  of  1899  the  prospecting  of  some 
fifteen  or  twenty  men  over  an  area  much  larger  in  ex- 
tent than  covered  by  all  the  New  England  States  resulted 
in  a  practical  demonstration  of  the  existence  of  heavily 
mineralized  zones  of  copper,  borite,  and  other  ores  in  the 
mountainous  districts  of  the  Chettyna,  Mount  Blackburn, 
Tanana,  and  White  Rivers.  It  is  not  uncommon  to  find 
nuggets  of  native  copper  in  the  shape  of  float,  varying 
in  size  from  small  bird  shot  to  pieces  weighing  many 
pounds." 

During  the  year  1900  the  United  States  forces  in 
Alaska  continued  the  explorations  and  road  construction 
of  the  Copper  River  Expedition  and  the  construction  of 
military  posts  at  St.  Michael,  Cape  Nome  and  Port 
Valdez,  and  this  year  saw  the  completion  of  the  posts  at 
Forts  Egbert  and  Gibbon,  and  the  construction  of  tele- 


ARMY  213 

graph  lines  throughout  the  Territory  for  which  an  ap- 
propriation of  $450,000  had  been  voted  by  Congress. 

"This  work,"  wrote  Mr.  Root,  the  Secretary  of  War, 
"has  been  assiduously  prosecuted;  but  the  force  had  had 
thrust  upon  it  other  and  unexpected  duties.  About 
18,000  people  arrived  at  Cape  Nome  during  the  month 
of  June.  Brig.  Gen.  George  M.  Randall,  the  department 
commander  says  of  them : 

"  'A  great  many  people  came  for  the  purpose  of  locat- 
ing permanent  business,  others  to  work  the  beach  and 
tundra,  and  still  another  class  to  "work"  their  fellowmen. 
This  last  class  was  probably  the  most  numerous  and  cer- 
tainly the  most  industrious  of  all.  Supplies  and  ma- 
chinery of  all  descriptions  could  be  seen  upon  the  beach. 
Nearly  every  one  seemed  to  think  he  had  a  divine  right 
to  take  possession  of  a  claim  or  town  lot  wherever  found. 
This  course  resulted  in  many  disturbances  and  some  of 
a  serious  character.  Many  property  owners  were  dis- 
posed to  defend  their  rights  by  taking  the  law  in  their 
own  hands,  and  the  timely  arrival  of  additional  troops 
averted  bloodshed  and  probable  serious  disorder. 

"There  was  practically  no  civil  government  at  Cape 
Nome.  The  only  organization  representing  the  forces 
of  law  and  order  was  a  chamber  of  commerce  which 
passed  a  resolution  June  24,  1900,  which  embodied  the 
request  that  'General  Randall  take  such  steps  as  may  be 
necessary  to  provide  for  the  government  of  this  camp 
until  the  arrival  of  the  United  States  district  court  in  the 
following  particulars,  to  wit: 

I.  To  provide  for  the  policing  of  this  camp. 

II.  To  provide  for  the  proper  sanitation  of  this  camp. 

III.  To  provide  and  enforce  proper  quarantine  regu- 
lations. 

IV.  To  provide  for  the  general  welfare  and  protec- 


214          OUR  UNITED  STATES 

tion  of  life  and  property,  including  such  measures  as  may 
be  necessary  to  prevent  and  subdue  fire  or  other  destruc- 
tion of  property  by  the  elements. 

"Immediate  steps  were  taken  by  the  commanding  officer 
to  establish  patrols  throughout  the  town  and  preserve 
order  and  protect  life  and  property. 

"The  chief  surgeon  took  charge  of  the  sanitary  condi- 
tions, which  were  exceedingly  bad,  and  a  simple  system 
of  sanitary  regulations  was  enforced.  With  the  efficient 
co-operation  of  Lieut.  L.  H.  Jarvis,  and  Lieut.  J.  C.  Cant- 
well,  of  the  United  States  Revenue  Cutter  Service,  an 
outbreak  of  smallpox  was  dealt  with  and  controlled. 

"Supplies  of  food  and  medicine  were  distributed  among 
sick  and  needy  Eskimos. 

"With  the  creation  of  orderly  social  conditions  at  Cape 
Nome,"  writes  the  Secretary  of  War  the  following  year, 
"and  the  establishment  of  civil  control  under  the  opera- 
tion of  the  courts,  the  department  has  been  discontinued 
and  the  number  of  troops  has  been  greatly  reduced.  The 
principal  duty  left  for  them  to  perform  has  been  the  con- 
struction of  the  military  telegraph  system." 

The  Signal  Corps  exhibited  great  activity  under  cir- 
cumstances of  great  difficulty  in  the  construction  of  tele- 
graph lines  and  within  a  period  of  twenty-four  months 
established  1,121  miles  of  land  lines  and  submarine  cables. 
"When  the  exceedingly  difficult  conditions  within  the 
Territory  are  considered,"  writes  Mr.  Root,  "and  the 
labor  and  hardships  which  the  officers  and  men  of  the 
Corps  encountered  are  appreciated,  the  construction  of 
this  telegraph  shows  the  spirit  which  characterizes  this 
branch  of  our  service." 

The  year  1903  saw  the  completion  of  this  work,  in- 
cluding 1,740  miles  of  telegraph  line,  of  which  1,486  are 
land  and  254  cable,  connecting  Fort  St.  Michael,  on  the 


ARMY  215 

south  shore  of  Norton  Sound,  with  Fort  Davis  and 
Nome  City  on  the  north  shore,  and  running  easterly  from 
St.  Michael  to  the  valley  of  the  Yukon,  passing  up  that 
valley  to  Fort  Gibbon  and  Rampart,  and  from  Fort  Gib- 
bon passing  up  the  valleys  of  the  Tanana  and  Goodpas- 
ture  Rivers  to  Fort  Egbert  and  Eagle  City;  thence,  run- 
ning southerly  across  the  divide  between  the  Tanana  and 
Copper  Rivers,  through  the  Copper  River  Country  to 
Valdes,  on  Prince  William's  Sound.  A  separate  cable 
of  120  miles  connects  Skagway,  at  the  head  of  Lyon 
Canal,  with  Hains  Mission  and  Junean. 

The  Chief  Signal  Officer  says  of  this  construction : 
"It  is  impossible  to  adequately  set  forth  the  tremen- 
dous difficulties  under  which  Alaskan  military  telegraphs 
have  been  constructed  and  maintained.  In  general  it  is 
to  be  premised  that  not  20  miles  of  constructed  wagon 
road  exists  in  the  country  traversed.  As  a  rule  all 
material  has  been  sledded  into  the  interior  in  midwinter 
or  carried  by  pack  animals  over  the  roughest  imaginable 
trails.  Conditions  were  so  difficult  that  some  coils  of 
wire  were  carried  145  miles  by  pack.  The  magnitude  of 
the  work  may  be  inferred  by  the  statement  that  from 
Fort  Egbert  alone,  between  November  20,  1902  and 
June  30,  1903,  no  less  than  220  tons  of  supplies  and 
material  were  sledded  or  packed  into  the  interior,  it  being 
impossible  to  move  a  ton  by  wagon.  The  construction 
parties,  consisting  almost  entirely  of  enlisted  men  of  the 
Signal  Corps  and  of  the  line  of  the  Army,  worked  steadily 
the  entire  Winter,  although  the  conditions  under  which 
field  work  was  done  were  of  the  most  hazardous  and  ap- 
palling character.  As  an  illustration  may  be  mentioned 
the  fact  that  from  November  1,  to  the  end  of  the  Winter, 
by  official  reports,  60  feet  and  11  inches  of  snow  fell  at 
Fort  Liscum,  adjoining  the  Copper  River  Valley.  In  the 


216  OUR  UNITED  STATES 

interior,  while  the  snow  fall  was  very  much  less,  being 
only  4  feet  4  inches  at  Egbert,  yet  continued  and  terrible 
cold  made  camp  life  and  construction  work  almost  in- 
supportable. The  mean  temperature  at  Fort  Egbert  from 
November  to  February,  inclusive — a  period  of  four 
months — was  2°  below  zero.  There  were  prolonged 
periods  of  extreme  low  temperature  when  the  mercury 
remained  frozen,  the  minimum  of  61°  below  zero  oc- 
curring in  January.  While  the  past  Winter  is  believed 
to  have  been  the  most  severe  in  Alaska  for  many  years, 
yet  such  was  the  resourcefulness  and  endurance  of  the 
American  soldier  that  the  work  of  construction  in  the 
valley  of  the  Tanana  was  carried  on  the  entire  Winter 
without  loss  of  life  and  with  only  one  serious  case  of 
freezing. 

"It  is  doubted,"  he  concludes,  "whether  in  the  peace- 
ful annals  of  the  Army  there  have  been  met  with  nobler 
fortitude  by  the  enlisted  men  equal  conditions  of  hard- 
ship and  privation." 


CHAPTER  XIII 
CUBA  AND  THE  PHILIPPINES 

THE  brilliant  and  sudden  termination  of  the  Spanish- 
American  war,  a  contest  which  the  American  people  had 
every  reason  to  believe  might  be  protracted  over  many 
months,  if  not  years,  unexpectedly  thrust  upon  the 
Federal  Government  the  protection,  care  and  welfare  of 
many  millions  of  human  beings  whose  existence  and 
traditions  had  been  fostered  under  the  most  debased 
form  of  monarchical  espionage.  These  unfortunates, 
who  had  struggled  for  centuries  under  the  domination  of 
Spanish  rule,  were  abruptly  transferred  to  the  protection 
of  a  flag  which  stands  for  the  broadest  principles  of 
democratic  government,  religious  and  personal  liberty. 

Vast  colonial  possessions,  with  unknown  and  un- 
developed resources,  laid  waste  by  the  ruthless  hand  of 
oppression  and  war,  with  a  swarming  population  pros- 
trated commercially,  financially  and  morally,  must  be  at- 
tuned to  new  conditions,  new  institutions,  new  methods 
of  administration  and  by  a  protectorate  alien  in  every  re- 
spect to  the  Latin  American  temperament. 

The  withdrawal  of  the  Spanish  forces  from  Cuba  and 
replacing  these  with  the  American  Army  of  occupation 
was  not  attended  without  danger  and  serious  apprehen- 
sion, but  no  untoward  event  occurred  and  by  the  first  of 
January,  1899,  the  last  of  the  Spanish  military  rule  de- 
parted never  to  return. 

217 


218  OUR  UNITED  STATES 

As  the  Spanish  Army  retreated,  the  Cuban  Army  had 
followed  and  it  took  charge  of  the  towns  and  country, 
performing  the  necessary  police  duty  of  maintaining 
order  and  preventing  brigandage.  In  November,  1898, 
the  Cuban  Army  had  been  ordered  disbanded  and  the 
government  of  the  Islands  may  be  said  to  have  been 
henceforth  conducted  "through  the  channels  of  civil  ad- 
ministration, although  under  military  control,"  except 
the  Department  of  Customs  which  was  conducted  accord- 
ing to  the  system  prescribed  by  the  Secretary  of  War. 

"The  most  serious  obstacle  to  be  overcome  in  establish- 
ing the  government  through  civil  channels,"  writes 
General  John  R.  Brooke,  first  Military  Governor  of  the 
Island  of  Cuba,  "is  the  natural  distrust  of  the  people, 
which  was  born  and  nurtured  under  the  system  of  the 
preceding  government  and  was  particularly  the  effect 
of  the  wars  which  these  people  waged  in  their  effort  to 
improve  their  condition.  Upon  the  relinquishment  of 
the  sovereignty  of  Spain  a  large  number  of  the  people 
were  found  to  be  actually  starving.  Efforts  were  im- 
mediately made  to  supply  food  which  the  War  Depart- 
ment sent,  amounting  all  told,  to  5,493,500  Cuban  rations, 
and  these  were  sent  into  the  country  and  distributed 
under  the  direction  of  the  Commanding  Generals  of  de- 
partments through  such  agencies  as  they  established  while 
in  the  cities,  the  distribution  was  generally  conducted  by 
an  officer  of  the  Army.  Medicines  were  also  supplied 
for  the  sick,  employment  given  to  those  who  could  work 
and  they  were  paid  weekly  so  that  they  could  buy  food. 
In  fact,  no  effort  was  spared  to  relieve  the  terrible  con- 
dition in  which  so  many  thousand  people  were  found. 
A  state  of  desolation,  starvation  and  anarchy  prevailed 
almost  everywhere.  In  Santa  Clara,  with  the  exception 
of  the  municipal  district  of  Cienfuegoes,  agriculture  and 


ARMY  219 

trade  had  practically  disappeared.  For  this  reason,  and 
on  account  of  the  number  of  reconcentrados,  mendicants 
and  criminals,  the  most  complete  political,  economic  and 
social  chaos  prevailed.  The  country  roads,  mail  service, 
public  instruction  and  local  governments  were  in  a  state 
of  almost  complete  abandonment. 

Upon  the  disbanding  of  the  Cuban  Army,  a  great 
source  of  distrust  was  removed  and  conditions  improved 
with  remarkable  rapidity. 

The  matter  of  financial  aid  in  sanitation,  repairs  and 
restoration  of  public  buildings,  maintenance  of  police, 
aid  to  municipalities,  etc.,  etc.,  involved  a  large  expendi- 
ture of  customs  revenues,  and  it  became  necessary  to 
establish  a  system  of  accountability,  which  was  perfected 
by  the  Treasurer  of  the  Customs  Revenues  Major  Ladd, 
and  as  Treasurer  and  Auditor  the  accounting  under  this 
system  was  continued  until  a  system  prepared  by  the 
War  Department  was  placed  in  operation. 

In  reorganizing  the  courts,  great  difficulties  were  en- 
countered, great  care  was  taken  to  avoid  the  establish- 
ment of  a  system  not  suited  to  this  people  of  to  the  laws 
to  be  administered  by  these  courts.  The  Law  of  Pro- 
cedure in  criminal  cases  had  all  the  defects  of  the 
ancient  system  where  the  rights  of  men  were  but  little 
regarded,  and  it  lacked  those  methods  of  modern  times 
whereby  the  humblest  citizen,  as  well  as  the  most  power- 
ful may  be  protected  in  the  enjoyment  of  his  just  rights 
and  personal  freedom.  Through  a  system  of  the  pay- 
ment of  the  municipal  judges  and  subordinate  employes 
by  fees  received,  particularly  in  criminal  cases,  instead  of 
by  regular  salaries,  there  were  established  schemes  of 
collection  of  additional  illegal  fees  which  became  a 
regular  part  of  the  system;  and  so  accustomed  had  these 
officials  become  to  it  that  it  was  impossible  to  secure 


220  OUR  UNITED  STATES 

speedy  transaction  of  business  or  even  to  obtain  justice, 
without  the  payment  of  extra  fees  demanded,  and  unjust 
judgments  were  often  secured  through  false  or  partial 
record  of  the  Escribanos,  who  wrote  up  the  cases  that 
were  to  be  presented  to  the  courts. 

These  conditions  were  improved  by  the  abolishment  of 
the  "Incomunicado"  system,  the  payment  of  regular 
salaries  to  the  judges,  and  the  general  re-organization  of 
the  personnel  of  the  courts,  changes  that  have  brought 
the  judicial  system  of  the  Island  to  a  more  honest  and 
satisfying  basis. 

The  question  of  finance  as  related  to  the  restoration 
of  crippled  and  destroyed  agricultural  industries  was  one 
which  occupied  much  attention  in  the  government  of 
Cuba.  Labor-saving  devices  were  slowly  introduced. 
The  repair  of  roads  and  bridges  was  not  neglected,  and 
surveys  were  made  adjacent  to  Havana  for  the  purpose 
of  facilitating  the  transmission  of  crops  ready  for  market. 

Under  General  Chaffee,  the  Chief  of  Staff,  Colonel 
Bliss,  the  Collector  and  Major  Ladd  the  Treasurer,  the 
collection,  care  and  use  of  revenues  of  Cuba  were  care- 
fully administered. 

It  may  be  conceded  at  this  time  that  the  United  States 
flag  was  an  actual  "advance  agent  of  prosperity." 

The  quiet  severance  of  the  Church  and  State  was 
effected  by  the  fact  of  the  Government  of  the  United 
States  being  in  control. 

The  important  subject  of  schools  was  another  subject 
of  absorbing  interest  to  Cuba. 

"The  Military  Governor  had  as  civil  assistants  four 
secretaries  who  formed  a  cabinet  or  council,"  writes 
General  Leonard  Wood,  Military  Governor  in  1899-1902. 
"The  Secretary  of  State  and  Governor  was  charged  with 
the  general  supervision  of  the  provincial  and  municipal 


ARMY  221 

administrations.  .  .  .  The  Department  of  Justice  and 
Public  Instruction  was  in  charge  of  an  official  designated 
as  the  Secretary  of  Justice  and  Public  Instruction,  who 
was  in  charge  of  the  administration  of  justice  and  re- 
sponsible for  the  proper  supervision  of  the  same.  .  .  . 

"Public  Works,  Agriculture,  Industry  and  Commerce 
were  grouped  and  administered  under  the  charge  of  an 
official  known  as  the  Secretary  of  Agri.  Com.  Indus.  & 
Public  Works. 

"The  Department  of  Hacienda  or  Finance  was  under 
the  Secretary  of  Hacienda,  who  was  charged  with  the 
collection  of  internal  revenue,  supervision  of  municipal 
finances,  safe  guarding  and  care  of  public  buildings,  en- 
forcement of  the  tax  laws,  payments  of  the  employes 
of  the  general  government  in  the  various  departments 
and  collection  of  rents  for  public  lands  and  rented 
properties  of  the  government  of  all  kinds.  These  four 
general  departments  of  the  government  were  each  sup- 
plied with  their  own  personnel,  necessarily  quite  numer- 
ous, and  had  throughout  the  various  provinces  of  the 
Island  their  assistants  and  deputies. 

"The  Customs  Service  established  during  the  year 
1899,  had  been  organized  in  all  parts  of  the  island  under 
the  very  able  and  efficient  administration  of  Colonel 
Tasker  H.  Bliss.  This  service  was  practically  under  the 
charge  of  American  officials,  most  of  them  officers  of  the 
Army.  Colonel  Bliss,  in  addition  to  being  the  head  of  the 
service  of  the  Island,  was  in  direct  personal  charge  of 
the  Custom  house  of  Havana. 

"The  funds  of  the  Island,  derived  from  customs,  in- 
ternal revenue,  postal  and  miscellaneous  receipts,  were 
deposited  with  the  North  American  Trust  Company,  to 
the  credit  of  the  Treasurer  of  the  Island,  Major  E.  F. 
Ladd. 


222  OUR  UNITED  STATES 

"The  Quarantine  Service  had  been  organized  by  and 
was  in  charge  of  the  Marine  Hospital  Service. 

"Postal  Service  was  under  the  Post  Master  General 
and  wholly  independent  of  the  government  of  the  Island. 

"The  Telegraph  and  Public  Telephone  Lines  were  in 
charge  of  the  Signal  Corps  of  the  Army,  under  the  con- 
trol of  Chief  Signal  Officer  of  the  Division,  Colonel  H. 
H.  C.  Dunwoody,  having  as  assistant  the  officers  of  the 
Signal  Corps  stationed  throughout  the  Island. 

"Lieutenant  Commander  Lucien  Young,  U.  S.  N.,  was 
Captain  of  the  Port  of  Havana  and  exercised  general 
supervision  over  all  the  Captains  of  Ports  of  the  Island. 

"Police  Supervision  was  exercised  by  a  rural  guard  of 
the  various  provinces. 

"Charities  and  Hospitals  were  mostly  under  the  com- 
manding generals  of  the  different  departments,  each  com- 
mander estimating  for  and  looking  after  those  of  his  own 
department.  This  was  also  true  of  prisons  in  all  that 
pertained  to  their  maintenance  and  sanitation.  Sanitary 
work  in  all  of  the  large  cities,  especially  in  garrisoned 
towns,  was  entirely  under  the  military  officers,  and 
throughout  the  Island  it  was  under  their  general  charge. 

"The  Auditor  for  the  Island  was  a  civilian,  the  system 
of  accounting  and  auditing  was  similar  to  that  of  the 
United  States  Treasury. 

"The  Island  was  divided  into  four  military  depart- 
ments. Each  was  under  the  command  of  a  general  offi- 
cer. These  general  officers  were  charged  with  the  usual 
military  control  and  administration  of  the  forces  under 
their  command,  under  the  Rules  and  Regulations  of  the 
Army  governing  the  United  States." 

When  General  Wood  was  appointed,  conditions  were 
improving  throughout  the  Island.  A  large  tobacco  crop 
and  a  small  sugar  crop  were  in  prospect. 


ARMY  223 

A  new  school  law,  somewhat  rudimentary  in  character, 
but  believed  sufficiently  complete  for  immediate  needs, 
had  been  published  in  order  to  permit  the  preliminary 
establishment  of  schools,  the  efficient  operation  of  which 
would  cost  several  hundred  thousand  dollars  per  month. 
The  schools  were  practically  without  school  furniture, 
and  the  amount  of  supplies  and  material  was  very  small. 

"The  crowded  condition  of  the  jails,"  he  continues, 
"with  untried  prisoners,  indicated  only  too  clearly  an  in- 
efficient administration  of  justice.  Generally  speaking, 
jails  and  hospitals  were  all  in  need  of  refitting  and  re- 
pairs. In  the  Department  of  Public  Works  a  systematic 
and  well-defined  plan  of  operation  was  needed  in  order 
that  the  main  lines  of  communication  might  be  opened 
with  as  little  delay  as  possible.  The  immense  amount  of 
work  called  for  in  the  important  departments  of  Justice 
and  Public  Instruction  necessitated  their  separation. 
This  was  done  and  two  distinct  departments  formed. 

"The  Light-house  Service  was  organized  and  placed 
under  the  charge  of  Senor  Mario  Menocal,  a  civil  engineer 
of  good  standing,  and  the  work  of  this  important  depart- 
ment at  once  taken  up.  Senor  Menocal  was  later  suc- 
ceeded by  Senor  E.  J.  Balbiu. 

"The  most  serious  condition  which  presented  itself  for 
immediate  action  was  that  of  prisons.  This  was  such  as 
to  demand  a  thorough  and  rigid  investigation  in  order 
that  existing  abuses  might  be  corrected  and  avoided  in 
the  future.  In  order  to  have  this  work  systematically 
conducted,  an  inspector  of  prisons  was  appointed  and 
directed  to  inspect  all  prisons  and  all  prisoners  at  least 
three  times  a  year,  at  as  nearly  equal  intervals  as  pos- 
sible. The  purpose  of  this  was  to  keep  the  prisoners 
under  rigid  supervision,  thereby  preventing  overcrowd- 
ing and  unjust  and  improper  detention. 


224  OUR  UNITED  STATES 

"The  administration  and  conduct  of  the  prisons  was  one 
of  the  worst  features  of  the  former  government  of  Cuba. 
When  the  United  States  assumed  control  of  the  Island, 
the  prisons  were  found  without  proper  sanitary  arrange- 
ments, without  proper  appliances  for  cooking,  lighting 
or  ventilation ;  in  fact,  they  were  simply  mediaeval  prison 
houses.  There  seemed  to  be  no  system  looking  towards 
the  reformation  of  the  inmates,  the  whole  purpose  being 
solely  to  punish,  never  to  correct.  Records  were  im- 
perfectly kept.  Prisoners  awaiting  trial  in  many  cases 
had  no  idea  of  the  charges  under  which  they  were  held 
or  date  of  their  trial.  They  had  no  means  of  procuring 
witnesses,  and  were  often  held  months  awaiting  trial  and 
finally  discharged  for  lack  of  evidence,  their  small  plan- 
tations in  the  meantime  having  been  ruined  and  their 
families  scattered.  In  Havana  I  found  conditions  exist- 
ing," continues  General  Wood,  "of  such  a  character 
as  to  warrant  prompt  action  in  connection  with  the 
Carcel.  The  sanitation  was  bad,  the  prisoners  were  with- 
out sufficient  hammocks  or  cots,  and  in  many  instances 
without  blankets  or  other  suitable  bedding.  The  cooking 
arrangements  were  bad.  So  far  as  public  interest  went, 
there  was  absolutely  none,  in  the  institution  or  in  their 
proper  conduct.  .  .  . 

"Immediate  steps  were  taken  to  install  in  the  Carcel 
modern  cooking  arrangement,  proper  sanitation,  sanitary 
closets,  sewers,  etc.  A  steam  kitchen,  steam  laundry  and 
additional  sanitary  improvements,  such  as  were  possible 
in  an  old  and  illy  constructed  building,  were  put  in.  ... 

"The  provincial  or  Andrencia  prisons  were  formerly 
conducted  with  better  regard  for  system  or  method,  the 
sole  object  being  to  retain  the  prisoners  within  the  walls. 
Hardened  criminals  and  boys  awaiting  trial  were  found 
in  the  same  general  prison  rooms.  Prisoners  were  al- 


ARMY  225 

lowed  to  have  food  sent  in  pretty  much  at  will.  Their 
prison  rooms  were  filled  with  all  sorts  of  articles,  reading 
matter,  mess  outfits,  and  special  articles  of  food.  Con- 
victs if  they  had  sufficient  means,  were  allowed  to  have 
separate  rooms,  supplying  themselves  with  whatever 
luxuries  they  could  purchase.  Bathing  facilities  and 
sanitary  arrangements  were  of  the  crudest  possible  de- 
scription, and  in  many  places  wanting. 

"General  orders  have  been  published  requiring  that 
prisoners  detained  and  awaiting  trial  be  kept  in  rooms 
apart  from  those  sentenced,  and  that  boys,  whether 
sentenced  or  awaiting  trial,  be  separated  from  adult 
prisoners.  ... 

"During  the  year  1900  all  the  prisons  were  thoroughly 
cleaned  up  and  nearly  all  received  general  repairs,  which 
in  some  places  amounted  almost  to  reconstruction. 
Wherever  possible,  bathing  facilities  were  furnished  and 
the  condition  of  ventilation  improved  and  suitable  bedding 
has  been  supplied. 

"When  we  came  to  the  Island,"  continues  General 
Wood,  "no  institutions  worthy  of  the  name  of  correctional 
schools  existed.  There  was  only  one  so-called  correc- 
tional establishment.  This  amounted  to  little  more  than 
an  ill-kept,  filthy  institution,  full  of  boys  of  all  characters, 
some  of  them,  thoroughly  vicious,  others,  boys  who  had 
fallen  into  bad  habits  simply  through  neglect  or  loss  of 
parents,  and  boys  confined  without  any  obvious  reason. 
The  children  made  one  of  the  saddest  pictures  the  Is- 
land presented.  They  were  living  without  proper  sur- 
roundings and  under  conditions  which  induced  abnormal 
habits  and  immorality.  There  was  nothing  whatever  in 
it  which  was  correctional.  The  influences  were  de- 
moralizing and  bad.  It  was  situated  in  Havana  and 
known  as  the  San  Jose  Correctional  School.  The  condi- 


226          OUR  UNITED  STATES 

tion  of  these  boys  was  such  that  they  were  transferred 
to  Reina  Battery  in  January  1900,  and  an  effort  made  to 
place  them  under  better  influences.  The  battery  had 
been  used  as  a  barrack  by  our  troops  and  furnished  with 
some  simple  sanitary  arrangements.  There  was  plenty 
of  light  and  air.  The  boys  were  retained  there  for 
several  months,  then  transferred  to  Guana  jay,  where  they 
were  established  in  an  almost  ideal  location,  under  con- 
ditions favorable  to  correction  and  reformation. 

"Under  the  Spanish  Government  many  liberal  and 
wise  provisions  were  made  for  the  care  of  children  and 
aged  and  infirm  people.  Almost  every  large  town  has  its 
Beneficencia  in  which  are  always  found  children  of  both 
sexes  and  many  cases  of  old  people,  cripples,  etc. 

"Nearly  all  the  establishments  have  very  large  proper- 
ties and  endowments  from  private  individuals,  but  owing 
to  the  disastrous  effects  of  the  war  and  the  suffering  and 
confusion  following  it,  very  few  of  them  derive  any  in- 
come from  their  properties,  and  consequently  have  re- 
quired the  assistance  of  the  State. 

"The  purpose  for  which  these  institutions  were  founded 
was  an  excellent  one  and  the  laws  and  regulations  govern- 
ing them  were  conceived  and  drawn  up  in  a  broad  and 
liberal  spirit,  yet  years  of  neglect  and  bad  administration 
had  destroyed  in  many  instances  all  semblance  of  efficient 
administration.  .  .  . 

"In  all  these  institutions  extensive  sanitary  reforms 
have  been  made  during  the  year  ( 1900) .  They  have  been 
thoroughly  cleaned  up,  and  in  some  instances,  as  at 
Havana,  the  State  has  expended  many  thousands  of  dol- 
lars in  modern  cooking  arrangements,  sanitary  appliances 
of  aH  kinds  and  improvements  to  the  buildings  and 
grounds." 

During  the  summer  of  1900,  1,281  Cuban  teachers  were 


ARMY  227 

collected  from  different  ports  of  the  island  by  five  United 
States  transports  which  carried  them  to  Boston  where 
they  were  enabled  to  attend  a  summer  school  at  Cam- 
bridge under  the  direction  of  Harvard  University.  At 
the  expiration  of  their  visit  they  were  again  transported 
on  Government  vessels  to  Cuba. 

Previous  to  transferring  the  government  of  Porto  Rico 
to  the  civil  authorities  according  to  the  Act  of  Congress 
April  12,  1900,  a  similar  work  of  military  administration 
had  been  in  progress.  Distributions  of  food,  medical  and 
hospital  supplies,  and  clothing  was  made  by  a  board  of 
charities,  of  which  the  chief  surgeon  of  the  military  de- 
partment was  president  and  in  which  the  entire  organiza- 
tion of  the  army  in  the  department  was  utilized. 

"To  as  great  an  extent  as  practicable,"  writes  the 
Secretary  of  War,  "the  owners  of  the  coffee  plantations 
were  utilised  in  the  distribution  of  rations,  and  the  able- 
bodied  men  receiving  them  were  required,  in  return  for 
rations,  to  engage  in  the  work  of  recovering  the  planta- 
tions from  the  destruction  wrought  by  the  hurricane,  in 
order  that  as  soon  as  possible  the  production  of  coffee 
on  the  island  might  be  revived. 

"For  the  purpose  of  furnishing  further  relief  by  giving 
employment  instead  of  alms,  and  at  the  same  time  secur- 
ing much  needed  means  of  communication,  the  Depart- 
ment authorized,  October  25,  1899,  the  expenditure  of 
$200,000  and  February  27  and  May  14,  1900,  the  further 
expenditure  of  $750,000  for  the  construction  of  military 
roads,  under  the  direction  of  the  engineer  force  of  the 
Department,  the  work  being  continued  by  that  body 
after  the  transfer  of  government  by  the  request  of  the 
civil  governor." 

The  telegraph  system  of  the  island  was  constructed  by 
the  Signal  Corps,  at  an  approximate  cost  of  $60,000  per 


228          OUR  UNITED  STATES 

year,  which  was  paid  out  of  appropriations  for  the  sup- 
port of  the  Army. 

"After  all  the  disorder,  lawlessness,  and  distress  conse- 
quent upon  a  state  of  war,"  writes  Secretary  Root,  "the 
withdrawal  of  accustomed  control,  the  transfer  of  sover- 
eignty to  a  people  unfamiliar  with  the  language,  the 
customs,  and  prejudices  of  the  island,  the  long  delay  in 
the  legislation  establishing  civil  and  political  rights  and 
business  relations,  the  poverty,  ruin,  and  suffering  caused 
by  the  great  hurricane,  the  military  governor  was  able 
to  say,  at  the  close  of  his  administration : 

"  'On  April  30th,  the  machinery  of  civil  government 
was  in  the  charge  of  experienced  public  officers,  and  the 
organization,  with  departments,  bureaus,  and  other 
branches,  both  insular  and  municipal,  was  such  that  the 
new  government  ordered  by  Congress  to  be  instituted, 
could  the  following  day  be  launched  and  carried  forward 
in  an  efficient  and  economic  manner.  The  courts  of  the 
island  were  all  in  the  discharge  of  their  proper  functions. 
The  dockets  were  not  crowded  as  they  were  a  year  be- 
fore. The  prisons  and  jails  were  well  kept  and  were  not 
overflowing.  The  public  highways  were  in  fine  condi- 
tion and  were  being  rapidly  extended.  The  amount  that 
could  be  spared  from  the  treasury  for  education  was  be- 
ing applied  in  such  a  manner  as  to  give  instruction  ac- 
cording to  modern  methods  to  over  30,000  children.  The 
laws  of  taxation  had  been  so  changed  that  very  heavy 
and  onerous  burdens  had  been  removed  from  the 
poor. 

"  'In  office  in  every  municipality  were  officers  who  in 
every  instance  were  the  choice  of  electors,  thus  granting 
to  municipalities  almost  complete  autonomy. 

"  'Life  and  property  were  everywhere  secure,  and  this 
without  the  use  of  troops  for  protection.  Notwithstand- 


ARMY  229 

ing  the  most  grievous  losses  suffered  by  the  people  from 
raids  of  banditti,  from  arson,  from  disturbance  of  trade 
relations,  from  losses  of  Spanish  markets  without  corres- 
ponding gains  elsewhere,  from  unsettled  conditions  re- 
sulting from  the  use  of  a  currency  which  suffered  a  heavy 
discount  when  referred  to  a  gold  basis,  and,  finally,  from 
the  almost  overwhelming  disaster  of  August  of  last  year, 
when  seven-tenths  of  all  maturing  crops  were  blotted  out 
of  existence — notwithstanding  all  these  obstacles  and 
burdens,  the  military  governor  was  able  to  turn  over  to 
the  civil  governor  the  comfortable  balance  in  the  insular 
treasury  of  over  $300,000.  As  commander  of  the  Mili- 
tary Department  of  Porto  Rico  and  the  last  military 
governor,  I  think  I  may  not  inappropriately  say  that  the 
trust  confided  to  the  Army  by  the  President  and  the 
people  has  not  been  abused,  but  instead,  has  been  wisely 
and  justly  exercised  in  the  interest  and  for  the  benefit  of 
the  inhabitants  of  this  beautiful  island.' 

"I  concur  in  these  statements,"  says  Secretary  Root, 
"and  I  wish  to  add  to  them  an  expression  of  grateful  ap- 
preciation of  the  devotion,  judgment,  good  temper,  and 
ability  exhibited  by  General  Davis  in  the  performance  of 
his  difficult  duties,  and  of  the  faithful  service  of  the 
officers  of  his  command." 

The  destruction  of  the  Spanish  fleet  in  the  Harbor  of 
Manila  on  May  1,  1898  thrust  another  serious  and  per- 
plexing problem  upon  the  government  of  the  United 
States.  At  that  date  all  of  its  troops  and  military  stores 
were  being  hastily  concentrated  on  the  southern  Atlantic 
coast.  Major  General  Merriam,  commanding  the  De- 
partment of  California  took  prompt  and  active  measures 
to  enlist  volunteers  from  the  Pacific  Slope,  the  as- 
sembling place  being  San  Francisco.  General  Otis  and 
General  Merritt  exerted  every  faculty  in  organizing  and 


230  OUR  UNITED  STATES 

equipping  the  "expeditionary  forces,"  a  problem  fraught 
with  extreme  difficulty. 

"Suddenly  called  to  meet  an  unexpected  emergency  in 
a  distant  portion  of  the  world,  no  preparations  had  been 
made  to  receive  them,"  writes  General  Otis,  first  Military 
Governor  of  the  Philippines.  "The  supply  departments, 
not  anticipating  any  concentration  of  forces  on  the  Pacific 
coast  had  made  no  provisions  for  furnishing  arms,  am- 
munition, clothing,  subsistence,  or  other  war  material 
with  which  an  army  about  to  operate  7,000  miles  from  its 
base  must  necessarily  be  supplied.  Indeed,  at  the  time 
these  troops  arrived  at  San  Francisco,  such  property, 
usually  kept  in  moderate  quantities  on  the  Pacific  coast, 
had  been  sent  to  the  East  for  the  army  destined  to  invade 
Cuba  and  Porto  Rico.  The  volunteer  organizations  were 
supposed  to  report  equipped  and  uniformed,  but  a  large 
majority  of  the  arms  they  presented  were  worthless  and 
in  some  instances  entire  organizations  had  to  be  rearmed. 
Their  clothing  had  evidently  been  in  use  for  a  long  time 
in  State  service,  was  worn  out,  and  many  of  the  men  were 
dressed  as  civilians.  In  spite  of  all  these  embarrass- 
ments, the  celerity  with  which  these  troops  were  equipped 
and  made  ready  for  the  field,  and  with  which  great 
quantities  of  necessary  supplies  and  war  materials  were 
placed  in  San  Francisco  and  loaded  on  transports,  fur- 
nished very  satisfactory  evidence  of  the  efficiency  of  the 
staff  department  of  the  Army.  Fortunately  San  Fran- 
cisco is  a  great  market,  and  much  that  was  needed  could 
be  obtained  there  through  contract  and  purchase.  The 
facilities  thus  offered  were  taken  advantage  of,  and  as- 
sisted very  materially  in  the  work  of  preparation.  The 
shipping  on  the  Pacific  coast  was  found  to  be  very  limited, 
and  vessels  in  any  wise  suited  (even  after  they  were  over- 
hauled and  repaired)  to  transport  troops  to  the  Tropics 


ARMY  231 

were  few,  and  most  of  them  were  at  the  time  absent,  en- 
gaged in  foreign  or  domestic  trade.  This  want  was  the 
principal  cause  of  delay  in  despatching  troops,  but  the 
persistent  efforts  of  the  War  Department  assisted  by  the 
Army  officers  in  San  Francisco,  accomplished  the  de- 
sired results  very  quickly,  considering  the  embarrassments 
with  which  it  had  to  contend.  The  time  required  for 
these  preparations,  however,  was  most  advantageously 
employed.  General  officers,  as  soon  as  they  reported  for 
duty,  were  placed  in  charge  of  brigade  organizations  and 
labored  assiduously  in  giving  proper  instructions  to  their 
commands,  so  that  when  these  troops  sailed  for  the 
Philippines  they  could  be  considered  moderately  efficient 
for  service. 

"With  the  officers  of  my  staff,"  continued  General  Otis, 
"I  accompanied  the  fourth  expedition  and  arrived  in  the 
harbor  of  Manila  on  August  21,  where  we  first  learned 
of  the  operations  of  the  10,000  men  who  had  preceded 
or  accompanied  General  Merritt,  and  which  had  resulted 
in  the  surrender  of  Manila  and  its  occupation  by  the 
United  States  forces  on  the  13th  of  that  month." 
At  this  time  the  military  situation  was  as  follows: 
Under  the  articles  of  capitulation,  United  States  oc- 
cupation was  confined  to  the  harbor,  city  and  bay  of 
Manila.  Admiral  Dewey,  with  his  fleet,  held  the  bay, 
also  the  naval  establishment  at  Cavite  which  had  been 
captured  in  May.  The  insurgent  forces,  commanded  by 
General  Aguinaldo,  entered  the  city  with  our  troops  on 
August  13th,  and  actively  held  joint  occupation  with  them 
over  a  considerable  part  of  the  southern  portion  of  the 
same,  declining  to  vacate  on  the  plea,  first,  that  they  had 
served  as  allies  with  our  troops,  during  the  operations 
which  had  preceded  the  taking  of  the  city,  and  therefore 
had  the  right  to  participate  in  the  victory;  and  secondly, 


232  OUR  UNITED  STATES 

that  they  wished  to  maintain  all  advantageous  positions 
secured  in  order  to  resist  successfully  the  troops  of  Spain, 
should  that  Government  be  permitted  to  resume  its  former 
power  in  the  islands.  Brigadier  Generals  Anderson  and 
MacArthur  were  exercising  immediate  command  of  the 
troops — the  former  at  Cavite  and  vicinity,  where  a  small 
contingent  was  stationed  and  the  latter  at  Manila,  where 
the  majority  had  been  judiciously  placed  in  barracks  and 
other  available  buildings.  General  MacArthur,  also,  as 
provost-marshal-general,  had  charge  of  the  police  of  that 
city  and  supervision  of  about  13,000  prisoners — Spanish 
and  native — who  had  been  surrendered  by  the  Spanish 
authorities.  These  had  been  collected  in  the  walled  por- 
tion of  the  city  and  occupied,  for  the  most  part,  its 
churches  and  convents.  Outwardly  peace  reigned,  but 
the  insurgents,  disappointed  because  not  permitted  to  en- 
joy the  spoils  of  war,  in  accordance  with  mediaeval  cus- 
toms, and  to  exercise  joint  control  of  municipal  affairs, 
were  not  friendly  disposed  and  endeavored  to  obtain 
their  asserted  rights  and  privileges  through  controversy 
and  negotiations  and  a  stubborn  holding  of  the  positions 
taken  by  their  troops. 

The  difficulties  and  perplexities  which  confronted  all 
officers  appointed  to  conduct  civil  affairs  were  very  great. 
The  prisons  were  full  to  overflowing  with  convicted  crim- 
inals and  persons  charged  with  crimes.  Immediate  at- 
tempts were  made  to  relieve  this  congestion,  and  applica- 
tions of  friends  of  those  incarcerated,  for  their  release, 
were  constant.  In  the  jail-deliveries  which  followed,  al- 
though conducted  after  search  of  records  obtainable  at 
the  time,  a  few  of  the  most  notorious  criminals  escaped. 
Subsequently  greater  care  was  exercised  and  each  in- 
dividual case  was  made  the  subject  of  investigation,  and 
even  then  when  pardon  accompanied  by  release  was 


ARMY  233 

granted,  this  frequently  followed  for  the  return  of  em- 
bargoed estates,  which  presented  very  perplexing  ques- 
tions for  determination,  involving  a  study  of  many  Span- 
ish war  measure  decrees. 

The  city  government  which  was  in  operation  at  the 
time  of  surrender  and  the  revenue  measures  practised 
for  the  support  were  the  results  of  national,  colonial  and 
local  decrees,  orders  and  approved  recommendations, 
more  or  less  complicated,  with  amendatory  features,  un- 
codified,  and  running  over  a  period  of  many  years,  pre- 
senting a  system  so  complex  that  after  the  study  of 
months  it  was  not  yet  fully  understood  and  certainly  not 
appreciated.  The  monthly  expenditures  for  the  city  have 
been  double  the  amount  of  its  receipts,  but  as  all  collec- 
tions of  whatever  nature  made  in  the  islands  were  de- 
posited with  the  general  fund  in  the  Treasury  and  money 
drawn  therefrom  on  warrants  as  demands  arose,  no  dif- 
ficulty was  experienced.  The  chiefs  of  the  supply  de- 
partments and  staff  corps  of  the  Army  who  had  been 
directed  to  receive  and  receipt  for  the  Spanish  military 
stores  when  the  prescribed  lists  should  be  presented,  were 
obliged  to  rely  solely  upon  their  own  efforts  to  discover 
this  property,  as  no  assistance  was  tendered  by  the  officers 
of  Spain.  They  were,  it  is  believed,  fairly  successful  in 
their  persistent  searches,  took  up  and  accounted  for  the 
property  found,  considerable  of  which  such  as  clothing, 
subsistence,  and  medicines,  were  expended  in  the  care  of 
Spanish  prisoners  of  war.  The  inventories  which  they 
made  were  very  advantageous  in  the  final  settlement  of 
United  .States  and  Spanish  claims  in  regard  to  this  class 
of  property.  General  Merritt's  orders  and  those  which 
closely  followed  were  based  on  the  articles  of  capitula- 
tion, by  which  it  was  transferred  to  the  United  States, 
as  information  concerning  the  peace  protocol  of  August 


234  OUR  UNITED  STATES 

12th,  which  held  in  abeyance  all  questions  of  property 
rights  pending  the  conclusion  of  a  treaty  of  peace,  had 
not  been  received.  The  fifth  article  of  the  Paris  treaty 
of  December  10th,  returned  to  Spain  all  these  army  stores 
and  property,  and  the  inventories  which  our  officers  had 
taken  constituted  the  basis  of  intelligent  settlement  with 
the  representatives  of  that  government  under  treaty 
stipulations,  and  in  many  instances  enabled  those  repre- 
sentatives to  formulate  their  demands. 

For  three  and  one-half  months  Admiral  Dewey  with 
his  squadron  and  the  insurgents  on  land  had  kept  Manila 
tightly  bottled.  All  commerce  had  been  interdicted,  in- 
ternal trade  paralyzed,  and  food  supplies  were  nearly 
exhausted.  Upon  the  opening  of  the  port,  merchants 
were  clamoring  for  the  re-establishment  of  inter-island 
commerce.  They  had  advanced  large  amounts  of  money 
on  their  harvested  crops  of  tobacco,  hemp  and  sugar, 
which  awaited  at  many  points  of  the  various  shipment 
to  Manila.  No  present  relief  could  be  furnished  by  the 
military  authorities.  The  harbor  was  filled  with  Spanish 
shipping  and  that  of  other  European  countries.  The 
United  States  was  not  represented  by  merchantmen  of 
any  character.  Spain  owned  and  was  entitled  to  posses- 
sion of  all  Philippine  territory,  except  temporary  occu- 
pancy of  the  bay,  harbor  and  city  of  Manila,  although 
the  insurgents  had  forcibly  seized  upon  many  cities  and 
ports. 

Oct.  3,  Capt.  J.  T.  Evans  of  the  volunteer  subsistence 
department,  who  had  been  sent  to  the  Philippines  to 
assist  in  revenue  matters  was  assigned  to  duty  at  the 
custom-house,  his  services  to  be  temporarily  confined  to 
a  careful  consideration  of  trade  conditions  and  an  ex- 
haustive study  of  the  United  States  customs  and  tariff 


ARMY  235 

regulations  prescribed  for  application  witu  a  view  of  sug- 
gesting amendments  and  modifications  therein,  in  order 
to  render  them  practicable  as  possible  to  existing  circum- 
stances. The  entire  labor  of  revision  was  imposed  upon 
him  and  he  performed  it  in  a  most  satisfactory  manner. 

With  the  entrance  of  the  United  States  troops  into  Ma- 
nila and  the  opening  up  of  that  port,  immigration  became 
active.  Business  men  from  our  own  and  other  countries, 
studying  the  situation,  were  quite  numerous.  Members 
of  the  criminal  classes,  who  always  follow  the  wake  of 
a  conquering  army,  came  from  the  American  and  Asiatic 
sea  coasts,  in  large  numbers.  The  native  population  of 
the  city  increased  and  was  augmented  by  a  considerable 
Chinese  influx,  most  of  which  presented  cedulas  or  cer- 
tificates of  personal  identity  issued  by  the  late  Spanish 
Government  in  order  to  prove  former  residence  in  the 
islands  as  the  United  States  Chinese  exclusion  law  was 
directed  to  be  applied. 

All  these  heterogeneous  elements,  including  Aguinaldo's 
army  and  14,000  United  States  troops  quartered  here, 
filled  the  city  to  repletion  and  gave  the  provost-marshal- 
general  and  his  guards  ample  occupation. 

"Spanish  authority  had  for  centuries  furnished  the 
only  controlling  force  for  the  maintenance  of  order  in  the 
Philippine  Islands,"  writes  Secretary  Root  in  his  report 
for  1900,  "and  upon  the  destruction  of  the  Spanish 
power  the  existing  administration  completely  ceased  to 
perform  its  functions  and  disappeared,  leaving  a  great 
body  of  inhabitants,  without  training  or  capacity  to  or- 
ganize for  self-control,  absolutely  without  government. 
No  substitute  for  the  accustomed  control  was  furnished 
under  the  Tagolog  rule,  which  was  built  up  in  the  first 
instance  by  our  assistance,  and  afterwards  under  our 


236  OUR  UNITED  STATES 

sufferance,  between  the  battle  of  Manila  Bay,  May  1, 
1898,  and  the  assertion  of  our  authority  by  the  army 
which  arrived  in  the  islands  in  the  autumn  of  1899. 

"The  military  authorities,  however,  promptly  com- 
menced the  organization  of  civil  administration,  in  which, 
as  rapidly  as  practicable,  all  the  ordinary  functions  of 
government  were  to  be  vested. 

"The  Spanish  criminal  procedure  in  the  islands  had 
been  exceedingly  oppressive  and  regardless  of  personal 
rights,  and  native  representatives  in  the  new  courts  were 
very  desirous  to  introduce  as  speedily  as  possible  the 
privileges  accorded  by  the  laws  of  the  United  States  to 
its  citizens. 

"The  next  step  in  order  of  importance  was  the  estab- 
lishment of  municipal  governments  through  which  the 
people  of  the  islands  might  control  their  own  local  affairs 
by  officers  of  their  own  selection. 

"The  law  relating  to  marriages  was  modified,  upon  the 
general  demand  of  the  people,  so  as  to  permit  civil  mar- 
riage, and  give  to  persons  civilly  married  all  the  legal 
rights  of  those  married  by  religious  ceremony. 

"The  patent  and  trade  mark  laws  of  the  United  States 
were  in  substance  adopted  in  the  islands.  The  coasting 
trade  was  regulated ;  burdensome  taxes  imposed  by  Span- 
ish law  were  abolished ;  the  schools,  which  were  estab- 
lished immediately  upon  our  occupation  of  Manila,  were 
extended  and  improved;  a  quarantine  law  was  enacted 
and  put  in  force;  the  customs  and  insular  revenues  were 
greatly  increased  and  a  rigid  high  license  and  early  clos- 
ing law  was  enforced  upon  the  saloons  in  the  city  of 
Manila. 

"In  April  of  this  year,"  continues  Secretary  Root,  "the 
second  Philippine  commission  of  which  Hon.  William  H. 
Taft,  of  Ohio;  Prof.  Dean  C.  Worcester,  of  Michigan; 


ARMY  237 

Hon.  Luke  I.  Wright,  of  Tennessee ;  Hon.  Henry  C.  Ide, 
of  Vermont,  and  Prof.  Bernard  Moses,  of  California, 
were  members,  sailed  for  Manila  with  the  powers  of  civil 
government  prescribed  in  the  instructions  of  April 
7,  1900. 

"After  devoting  several  months  to  familiarizing  them- 
selves with  the  conditions  in  the  islands,  this  commission, 
on  the  1st  of  September,  1900,  entered  upon  the  dis- 
charge of  the  extensive  legislative  powers  and  the  specific 
powers  of  appointment  conferred  upon  them  in  the  in- 
structions and  continued  to  exercise  all  that  part  of  the 
military  power  of  the  President  in  the  Philippines  which 
is  legislative  in  its  character,  leaving  the  military  gover- 
nor still  the  chief  executive  of  the  islands,  the  action  of 
both  being  duly  reported  to  this  Department  for  the 
President's  consideration  and  approval." 

The  enormous  volume  of  business  passing  through  the 
Headquarters  of  the  Military  Governor  during  the  year 
1900  can  only  be  appreciated  by  a  careful  study  of  the 
reports  of  the  Department  Commanders  and  those  from 
the  office  of  the  Military  Secretary. 

"The  complex  details  arising  from  the  domestic  and 
civil  affairs  of  a  population  of  seven  or  eight  millions  of 
people,  all  find  focus  in  this  office,"  says  General 
MacArthur,  Military  Governor,  "and  when  it  is  recalled 
that  most  of  the  subordinate  civil  officers  reporting 
thereto  are  conducted  by  officers  of  .the  Army,  detached 
for  special  duty,  it  impresses  the  idea  of  the  versatility 
of  that  branch  of  the  public  service.  From  the  Supreme 
Court  down,  Army  officers  are  found  everywhere  in  the 
civil  service,  and  not  only  so,  but  doing  the  novel  and 
exacting  work  in  an  efficient,  and,  in  many  instances, 
in  a  masterly  manner.  It  would  be  difficult  to  express 
adequate  appreciation  of  the  services  rendered  and  it  is 


238  OUR  UNITED  STATES 

therefore  a  great  pleasure  to  assure  the  Department  of 
the  fidelity  and  zeal  of  all  concerned." 

In  Major  General  MacArthur's  report  for  1901  are 
outlined  the  motives  which  led  to  the  Philippine  insur- 
rection, carried  on  under  the  most  annoying  forms  of 
guerrilla  warfare.  The  uncertainty  of  our  Govern- 
mental policy  as  to  the  permanent  retention  of  these  dis- 
tant islands ;  the  unrest  and  apprehension  felt  by  a  large 
population  of  ignorant  and  suspicious  natives,  the  dom- 
ination of  native  military  insurgents  combined  to  produce 
a  state  of  disorganization  and  hostility  and  open  defiance 
of  American  authority. 

Several  months  before  the  formal  disbandment  of  the 
insurgent  field  forces  in  November,  1899,  the  Philippine 
military  leaders  had  been  obliged  to  accept  an  attitude  of 
inferiority,  and  as  a  consequence  thereof,  they  adopted 
what  might  be  described  as  a  modified  Fabian  policy, 
which  was  based  upon  the  idea  of  occupying  a  series  of 
strong  defensive  positions  and  therefrom  presenting  just 
enough  resistance  to  force  the  American  Army  to  a 
never-ending  repetition  of  tactical  deployments. 

This  policy  was  carried  out  with  considerable  skill  and 
was  for  a  time  partially  successful  as  the  native  army 
was  thus  enabled  to  hover  within  easy  distance  of  the 
American  camps,  and  at  the  same  time  avoid  close  com- 
bat. When  the  offensive  action  of  the  campaign  became 
rapid,  the  native  army,  in  order  to  avoid  capture  or  de- 
struction, was  obliged  to  disband,  but  as  the  dissolution 
was  accomplished  in  accordance  with  a  deliberate  and 
pre-arranged  plan,  it  was  not  attended  with  large  loss  of 
life  in  battle. 

It  has  since  been  ascertained  that  the  expediency  of 
adopting  guerrilla  warfare  from  the  inception  of  hostili- 
ties was  seriously  discussed  by  the  native  leaders,  and  ad- 


ARMY  239 

vocated  with  much  emphasis  as  the  system  best  adapted  to 
the  peculiar  conditions  of  the  struggle.  It  was  finally  de- 
termined, however,  that  a  concentrated  field  army,  con- 
ducting regular  operations,  would  in  the  event  of  suc- 
cess, attract  the  favorable  attention  of  the  world,  and  be 
accepted  as  a  practical  demonstration  of  capacity  for  or- 
ganization and  self-government.  The  disbandment  of 
the  field  army,  therefore,  having  been  a  subject  of  con- 
templation from  the  start,  the  actual  event,  in  pursuance 
of  the  deliberate  action  of  the  council  of  war,  in  Bayam- 
bang  about  Nov.  12,  1899,  was  not  regarded  by  Filipinos 
in  the  light  of  a  calamity  but  simply  as  a  transition  from 
one  form  of  action  to  another,  a  change  which  by  many 
was  regarded  as  a  positive  advantage  and  was  relied 
upon  to  accomplish  more  effectively  the  end  in  view. 

To  this  end  the  leaders  announced  a  primal  and  in- 
flexible principle  to  the  effect  that  every  native  without 
exception  residing  within  the  limits  of  the  Archipelago 
owed  active  individual  allegiance  to  the  insurgent  cause. 
This  jurisdiction  was  enjoined  under  severe  penalties 
which  were  systematically  enforced,  not  only  within  in- 
surgent territory  but  also  within  the  limits  of  American 
garrisons.  By  means  of  secret  committees  residing  in  or 
sent  to  the  towns,  contributions  of  all  kinds  were  col- 
lected and  sent  to  the  field,  and  punishments,  including 
capital  executions  were  administered  without  resistance 
on  the  part  of  the  victim,  by  reason  of  a  strange  com- 
bination of  loyalty,  apathy,  ignorance,  and  timidity. 
This  policy  was  generally  accepted ;  and  as  a  consequence 
the  military  leaders  enjoyed  a  very  extensive  co-operation 
of  the  whole  mass  of  Filipino  people  in  support  of  their 
movements.  This  joint  action  was  very  effective  in  re- 
spect to  all  matters  touching  intelligence  and  supply  and 
also  in  the  innumerable  little  details  connected  with  the 


240  OUR  UNITED  STATES 

daily  service  of  troops  in  campaign,  and  with  regard  to 
which  a  good  understanding  with  the  inhabitants  gives 
such  an  enormous  advantage. 

The  cohesion  of  Filipino  society  in  behalf  of  insurgent 
interests  is  most  emphatically  illustrated  by  the  fact  that 
assassination  which  was  extensively  enjoyed,  was  gener- 
ally accepted  as  a  legitimate  expression  of  insurgent  gov- 
ernmental authority.  The  individual  marked  for  death, 
would  not  appeal  to  American  protection,  although  con- 
demned exclusively  on  account  of  supposed  pro-Ameri- 
canism, or  give  information  calculated  to  insure  their 
own  safety,  even  when  such  procedure  could  easily  be 
accomplished  by  means  of  conferences  with  American 
commanders,  who  in  many  instances  were  stationed  in 
the  barrios  where  the  victims  reside. 

The  amnesty,  which  expired  Sept.  21,  1900  had  not 
produced  any  useful  effect,  and  by  Dec.  1,  1900  it  was 
apparent  that  expectation  based  upon  the  result  of  the 
presidential  election  in  the  United  States  would  not  be 
realized.  Conditions  were  plainly  likely  to  become  chron- 
ic, unless  some  remedy  could  be  devised  capable  of  ready 
application  with  the  means  at  hand  and  calculated  to  pro- 
duce an  immediate  effect  in  amelioration  of  the  situation. 

An  entirely  new  campaign  was  therefore  determined 
upon,  based  upon  the  central  idea  of  detaching  the  towns 
from  the  immediate  support  of  the  guerrillas  in  the  field, 
and  thus  also  precluding  the  indirect  support  which  arose 
from  indiscriminate  acceptance  by  the  towns  of  the  in- 
surrection in  all  its  devious  ramifications. 

In  prosecuting  field  operations  against  the  concen- 
trated forces  of  the  rebellion,  the  people  of  the  country, 
especially  those  living  in  towns,  had  rarely  been  inter- 
fered with,  even  when  suspected  of  giving  aid  and  as- 


ARMY  241 

sistance  to  the  army  enemy.  Prisoners  taken  in  battle 
were  disarmed  and  immediately  released.  This  policy 
was  adhered  to  with  uniform  consistency  for  nearly  two 
years  in  the  hope  that  such  conciliatory  action  would  in 
time  turn  the  natives  into  friendly  neighbours,  alike  to 
their  advantage  and  to  that  of  the  United  States. 

As  a  consequence  of  centuries  of  monarchial  colonial 
administration,  the  people  of  these  islands  are  suspicious 
of,  rather  than  grateful  for,  any  declared  or  even  prac- 
tised governmental  beneficence,  and  in  this  particular  in- 
stance they  undoubtedly  looked  upon  the  lenient  attitude 
of  the  United  States  as  indicating  conscious  weakness, 
which  in  itself  was  sufficient  to  induce  grave  doubt  as  to 
the  wisdom  of  siding  with  such  a  power ;  especially,  so,  as 
the  United  States  had  made  no  formal  announcement  of 
an  inflexible  purpose  to  hold  the  Archipelago,  and  afford 
protection  to  pro-Americans  by  proclaiming  a  legal  and 
constitutional  right,  as  well  as  a  determined  purpose,  to 
act  accordingly. 

As  preliminary  to  more  vigorous  field  operation  and  in 
assistance  of  the  same,  it  was  considered  expedient  to 
clear  up  such  misleading  views  referred  to  above  as 
came  clearly  and  exclusively  within  the  scope  of  military 
administration.  Fortunately  most  of  the  matters  de- 
manding discussion  fell  directly  within  the  operations  of 
well-known  prescriptions  of  laws  of  war  which  touch 
government  of  occupied  places. 

Accordingly,  these  were  amplified,  formulated  and  ex- 
pounded to  the  Filipino  people  and  all  residents  of  the 
Archipelago.  The  proclamation  in  which  this  was  pro- 
mulgated was  printed  in  each  of  the  13  newspapers 
published  in  Manila,  in  English,  Spanish  and  Tagalog 
languages. 

"To  successfully  contend  against  this  condition  and  to 


242  OUR  UNITED  STATES 

suppress  it,"  writes  the  Secretary  of  War,  "to  afford  pro- 
tection to  the  peaceful  and  unarmed  inhabitants,  and  to 
re-establish  local  civil  governments  had  necessitated  the 
distribution  of  our  forces  to  more  than  400  stations. 
The  scattered  guerrilla  insurgent  bands  obtained  funds 
and  supplies  from  the  towns  and  country  in  the  vicinity 
of  their  operations.  The  people  thus  contributing  to  the 
support  of  these  guerrillas  had  been  rarely  interfered 
with.  Prisoners  taken  in  battle  had  been  disarmed  and 
immediately  released.  This  policy  had  been  adhered  to 
in  the  hope  that  it  might  make  friendly  neighbours  of  the 
natives,  but,  on  the  contrary  they  seemed  suspicious  of 
this  beneficence  and  looked  upon  it  as  an  evidence  of 
weakness.  It  was  therefore  decided  to  apply  more 
rigidly  to  the  residents  of  the  Archipelago  the  laws  of 
war  touching  the  government  of  occupied  places.  No- 
tice of  this  intention  was  given  by  a  proclamation  issued 
by  the  military  governor  December  20,  1900,  fully  ex- 
plaining the  law,  supplemented  by  letters  of  instruction, 
and  followed  by  more  vigorous  field  operations.  It  was 
followed  immediately  by  the  deportation  to  the  island  of 
Guam  of  about  fifty  prominent  Filipino  insurgent  army 
officers,  civil  officials,  insurgent  agents,  sympathizers  and 
agitators. 

"There  was  at  one  time  in  the  public  press  and  on  the 
floor  of  Congress,"  continues  Mr.  Root  in  his  official  re- 
port for  1902,  "much  criticism  of  the  conduct  of  the 
Army  in  the  Philippines,  as  being  cruel  and  inhuman. 
All  wars  are  cruel.  This  conflict  consisted  chiefly  of 
guerrilla  warfare.  It  lasted  for  some  three  years  and  a 
half  and  extended  over  thousands  of  miles  of  territory. 
Over  120,000  men  were  engaged  upon  our  side  and  a 
much  greater  number  upon  the  other,  and  we  were  fight- 
ing against  enemies  who  totally  disregarded  the  law§  pf 


ARMY  243 

civilized  warfare,  and  who  were  guilty  of  the  most 
atrocious  treachery  and  inhuman  cruelty. 

"It  was  impossible  that  some  individuals  should  not  be 
found  upon  our  side  who  were  unnecessarily  and  un- 
justifiably cruel.  Such  instances,  however,  after  five 
months  of  searching  investigation  by  a  committee  of  the 
Senate,  who  took  some  three  thousand  printed  pages 
of  testimony,  appear  to  have  been  comparatively  few, 
and  they  were  in  violation  of  strict  orders,  obedience 
to  which  characterized  the  conduct  of  the  army  as  a 
whole. 

"The  two  observers  who,  as  the  heads  of  the  civil  gov- 
ernment in  the  Philippines,  had  the  best  opportunities 
for  information,  and  at  the  same  time  were  naturally  free 
from  any  military  bias,  have  given  what  I  believe  to  be 
a  true  statement  of  the  character  of  our  military  opera- 
tions." 

Vice-Governor  Luke  E.  Wright  says  in  a  letter  writ- 
ten on  the  20th  of  July,  1902 : 

"General  ChafTee,  as  a  matter  of  course,  had  no  pa- 
tience with  any  acts  of  oppression  or  cruelty,  and  when- 
ever his  attention  has  been  called  to  them  has  at  once 
taken  proper  steps.  The  howl  against  the  Army  has 
been  made  mainly  for  political  purposes,  and  the  cruel- 
ties practiced  have  been  largely  exaggerated.  Of  course, 
numerous  instances  of  this  character  have  occurred. 
There  never  was  and  never  will  be  a  war  of  which  the 
same  may  not  be  said;  but  taken  as  a  whole,  and  when 
the  character  of  the  warfare  here  is  considered,  I  think 
the  officers  and  men  of  the  American  Army  have  been 
forbearing  and  humane  in  their  dealings  with  the  na- 
tives, and  the  attempt  to  create  a  contrary  impression  is 
not  only  unjust  to  them,  but,  it  seems,  to  me,  unpatriotic 
as  well." 


244  OUR  UNITED  STATES 

Governor  Taft,  in  his  testimony  under  oath  before  the 
Philippine  Committee  of  the  Senate  said : 

"After  a  good  deal  of  study  about  the  matter  (and 
although  I  have  never  been  prejudiced  in  favor  of  the 
military  branch,  for  when  the  civil  and  military  branches 
are  exercising  concurrent  jurisdiction  there  is  some  in- 
evitable friction),  I  desire  to  say  that  it  is  my  deliberate 
judgment  that  there  never  was  a  war  conducted,  whether 
against  inferior  races  or  not,  in  which  there  was  more 
compassion  and  more  restraint  and  more  generosity,  as- 
suming that  there  was  war  at  all,  than  there  have  been  in 
the  Philippine  Islands." 


CHAPTER  XIV 
ERADICATION  OF  DISEASE  BY  ARMY  MEDICAL  STAFF 

A  FAR  reaching  result  of  the  cleaning  up  of  Havana  by 
the  American  Army  was  the  eradication  of  yellow  fever, 
which  for  two  hundred  years  had  been  the  curse  of  the 
West  Indies,  of  Central  and  South  America.  The  econ- 
omical waste  both  in  lives  and  property  by  the  ravages 
of  the  dread  disease  can  hardly  be  approximated.  It  has 
been  estimated  that  500,000  cases  of  yellow  fever  existed 
in  the  United  States  alone  between  1793  and  1900. 

The  problem  had  long  occupied  the  attention  of  lead- 
ing medical  men  of  the  world,  theories  had  been  ad- 
vanced, investigations  carried  on,  remedies  offered  and 
protective  inoculations  instituted,  but  for  the  reason  that 
the  organism  of  yellow  fever  is  invisible  to  the  micro- 
scope, these  investigations  had  been  unsuccessful  and  the 
remedies  applied  alleviated  but  did  not  eradicate  the 
disease. 

Surgeon  General  Sternberg,  U.  S.  A.,  had  given  many 
years  to  the  conscientious  study  of  yellow  fever.  Con- 
sidered a  leading  authority  on  the  subject  he  had  made 
under  the  direction  of  the  President  of  the  United  States, 
laborious  investigations  as  to  its  cause  in  Havana,  Brazil 
and  Mexico.  The  claim  of  Sanarelli,  of  Buenos  Aires, 
to  have  discovered  the  cause  of  yellow  fever  in  the  ba- 
cillus icteroides,  prompted  Surgeon-General  Sternburg  to 
investigate  the  claim  and  to  this  end  he  ordered  Major 

245 


246  OUR  UNITED  STATES 

Walter  Reed,  at  the  time  professor  of  bacteriology  in  the 
Army  Medical  School,  to  study  this  organism  in  connec- 
tion with  an  organism  discovered  by  Sternberg  and 
named  by  him  bacillus  X. 

In  June,  1900,  Major  Reed  was  appointed  president 
of  a  board  to  study  infectious  diseases,  but  more  es- 
pecially yellow  fever.  Associated  with  him  were  Acting 
Assistant  Surgeons  James  Carroll,  Jesse  W.  Lazear  and 
A.  Agramonte. 

"At  this  time  the  American  authorities  in  Cuba  had  for 
a  year  and  a  half  endeavored  to  diminish  the  disease  and 
mortality  of  the  Cuban  towns,"  writes  Colonel  McCaw, 
"by  general  sanitary  work,  but  while  the  health  of  the 
population  showed  distinct  improvement  and  the  mor- 
tality had  greatly  diminished,  yellow  fever  apparently 
had  been  entirely  unaffected  by  these  measures.  In  fact, 
owing  to  the  large  number  of  non-immune  foreigners, 
the  disease  was  more  frequent  than  usual  in  Havana  and 
in  Quenados  near  the  camp  of  American  troops,  and 
many  valuable  lives  of  American  officials  and  soldiers 
had  been  lost.  Reed  was  convinced  from  the  first  that 
general  sanitary  measures  alone  would  not  check  the  dis- 
ease but  that  its  transmission  was  probably  due  to  an 
insect. 

"The  fact  that  malarial  fever,  caused  by  an  animal  par- 
asite in  the  blood,  is  transmitted  from  man  to  man 
through  the  agency  of  certain  mosquitoes  had  been  re- 
cently accepted  by  the  scientific  world ;  also  several  years 
before,  Dr.  Carlos  Finlay,  of  Havana,  had  advanced  the 
theory  that  a  mosquito  conveyed  the  unknown  cause  of 
yellow  fever,  but  did  not  succeed  in  demonstrating  it — 
the  truth  of  his  theory. 

"Dr.  H.  R.  Carter,  of  the  Marine  Hospital  Service,  had 
written  a  paper  showing  that  although  the  period  of  in- 


ARMY  247 

cubation  of  yellow  fever  was  only  five  days,  yet  a  house 
to  which  a  patient  was  carried  did  not  become  infected 
for  from  fifteen  to  twenty  days.  To  Reed's  mind  this 
indicated  that  the  unknown  infective  agent  has  to  un- 
dergo a  period  of  incubation  of  from  ten  to  fifteen  days, 
and  probably  in  the  body  of  a  biting  insect. 

"In  June,  July  and  August,  1900,  the  commission  gave 
their  entire  attention  rto  the  bacteriological  study  of  the 
blood  of  yellow  fever  patients,  and  the  post  mortem  ex- 
amination of  the  organs  of  those  dying  with  the  dis- 
ease." 

"Application  was  made  to  General  Leonard  Wood,  the 
Military  Governor  of  Cuba,  for  permission  to  conduct 
experiments  on  non-immune  persons,  and  a  liberal  sum 
of  money  requested  for  the  purpose  of  rewarding  vol- 
unteers who  would  submit  themselves  to  experiment. 
It  was  indeed  fortunate,"  continues  Colonel  McCaw, 
"that  the  military  governor  of  Cuba  was  a  man  who  by 
his  breadth  of  mind  and  special  scientific  training  could 
readily  appreciate  the  arguments  of  Major  Reed  as  to 
the  value  of  the  proposed  work.  Money  and  full  au- 
thority to  proceed  were  promptly  granted  and  to  the 
everlasting  glory  of  the  American  soldier,  volunteers 
from  the  army  offered  themselves  for  experiment  in 
plenty,  and  with  the  utmost  fearlessness. 

"Before  the  arrangements  were  entirely  completed,  Dr. 
Carroll,  a  member  of  the  commission,  allowed  himself 
to  be  bitten  by  a  mosquito  that  twelve  days  previously 
had  filled  itself  with  the  blood  of  a  yellow  fever  patient. 
He  suffered  from  a  very  severe  attack,  and  his  was  the 
first  experimental  case.  Dr.  Lazear  also  experimented 
on  himself  at  the  same  time,  but  was  not  infected.  Some 
days  later,  while  in  the  yellow  fever  ward,  he  was  bitten 
by  a  mosquito  and  noted  the  fact  carefully.  He  acquired 


248          OUR  UNITED  STATES 

the  disease  in  its  most  terrible  form  and  died  a  martyr 
to  science  and  a  true  hero.  No  other  fatality  occurred 
among  the  brave  men  who,  in  the  course  of  the  experi- 
ments, willingly  exposed  themselves  to  infection  of  the 
dread  disease. 

"A  camp  was  especially  constructed  for  the  experi- 
ments about  four  miles  from  Havana,  christened  Camp 
Lazear  in  honor  of  the  dead  comrade." 

Kissinger  and  Moran,  privates,  were  the  first  to  vol- 
unteer as  subjects  for  experiments. 

Senate  report  No.  210  contains  a  full  statement  of  the 
services  of  John  Kissinger,  who  to  use  his  own  words 
volunteered  "solely  in  the  interest  of  humanity  and  the 
cause  of  science" ;  one  of  the  bravest  soldiers  who  served 
in  the  Spanish  American  war.  For  exhibition  of  moral 
courage,  his  submission  to  inoculation  of  yellow  fever 
seems  unsurpassed.  In  1910  he  was  a  helpless  paralytic, 
unable  to  walk,  and  totally  disabled  for  any  kind  of  em- 
ployment, his  ailment  being  a  disease  of  the  spine,  as  the 
results  of  experiments  made  upon  him  when  he  volun- 
teered to  become  a  subject  for  experimental  purposes  in 
the  yellow  fever  hospital  in  Cuba. 

On  page  139  in  the  life  of  Walter  Reed,  published  by 
McClure,  Phillips  &  Company,  is  the  following  paragraph 
in  regard  to  this  soldier: 

"When  it  became  known  among  the  troops  that  sub- 
jects were  needed  for  experimental  purposes,  Kissinger, 
in  company  with  another  young  private  named  John  J. 
Moran,  volunteered  their  services.  Doctor  Reed  talked 
the  matter  over  with  them,  explaining  fully  the  danger 
and  suffering  involved  in  the  experiment  should  it  be 
successful,  and  then,  seeing  they  were  determined,  he 
stated  that  a  definite  money  compensation  would  be  made 
them.  Both  young  men  declined  to  accept  it,  making  it, 


ARMY  249 

indeed,  their  sole  stipulation  that  they  should  receive  no 
pecuniary  reward,  whereupon  Major  Reed  touched  his 
cap,  saying  respectfully,  'Gentlemen,  I  salute  you.' 
Reed's  own  words  in  his  published  account  of  the  experi- 
ment on  Kissinger  are,  'In  my  opinion  this  exhibition  of 
moral  courage  has  never  been  surpassed  in  the  annals  of 
the  Army  of  the  United  States.'  Likewise  Mr.  Moran's 
action  was  dictated  by  the  purest  motives  of  altruism  and 
self-devotion.  He  disclaimed,  before  submitting  to  the 
experiments,  any  desire  for  reward,  and  has  never  ac- 
cepted any  since,  although  he  was  offered  the  $200  which 
the  liberality  of  the  military  governor  enabled  the  com- 
mission to  give  each  experimental  patient,  the  members 
of  the  board  excepted.  Such  was  his  modesty  that  he 
has  made  no  effort  to  make  known  his  connection  with 
these  experiments  and  reap  the  credit  which  is  so  justly 
due  him.  After  leaving  Cuba  he  completed  his  educa- 
tion by  a  course  of  study  at  the  University  of  Virginia 
and  in  1908  was  living  in  Panama,  in  the  employ  of  the 
Isthmian  Canal  Commission." 

The  mosquitoes  used  were  specially  bred  from  the  eggs 
and  kept  in  a  building  screened  by  wire  netting.  When 
an  insect  was  wanted  for  an  experiment  it  was  taken  into 
a  yellow  fever  hospital  and  allowed  to  fill  itself  with  the 
blood  of  a  patient;  afterward  at  varying  intervals  from 
the  time  of  this  meal  of  blood  it  was  purposely  applied 
to  non-immunes  in  camp. 

In  December  five  cases  of  the  disease  were  developed 
as  the  result  of  such  applications ;  in  January,  three,  and 
in  February  two,  making  in  all  ten,  exclusive  of  the  cases 
of  Drs.  Carroll  and  Lazear.  Immediately  upon  the  ap- 
pearance of  the  first  recognized  symptoms  of  the  dis- 
ease, in  any  one  of  these  experimental  cases,  the  patient 
was  taken  from  Camp  Lazear  to  a  yellow  fever  hospital, 


250  OUR  UNITED  STATES 

one  mile  distant.  Every  person  in  camp  was  rigidly  pro- 
tected from  accidental  mosquito  bites,  and  not  in  a  single 
instance  did  yellow  fever  develop  in  the  camp,  except  at 
the  will  of  the  experimenters. 

A  completely  mosquito-proof  building  was  divided 
into  two  compartments  by  a  wire  screen  partition;  in- 
fected insects  were  liberated  on  one  side  only.  A  brave 
non-immune  entered  and  remained  long  enough  to  allow 
himself  to  be  bitten  several  times.  He  was  attacked  by 
yellow  fever,  while  two  susceptible  men  in  the  other 
compartment  did  not  acquire  the  disease,  although 
sleeping  there  thirteen  nights.  This  demonstrates  in  the 
simplest  and  most  certain  manner  that  the  infectious- 
ness  of  the  building  was  due  only  to  the  presence  of 
insects. 

Every  attempt  was  made  to  infect  individuals  by 
means  of  bedding,  clothes,  and  other  articles  that  had 
been  used  and  soiled  by  patients  suffering  with  virulent 
yellow  fever.  Volunteers  slept  in  the  room  with  and 
handled  the  most  filthy  articles  for  twenty  nights,  but 
not  a  symptom  of  yellow  fever  was  noted  among  them, 
nor  was  their  health  in  the  slightest  degree  affected. 
Nevertheless  they  were  not  immune  to  the  disease,  for 
some  of  them  were  afterwards  purposely  infected  by 
mosquito  bites.  This  experiment  indicated  at  once  the 
uselessness  of  destroying  valuable  property  for  fear  of 
infection.  Had  the  people  of  the  United  States  known 
this  one  fact  a  hundred  years  ago,  an  enormous  amount 
of  money  would  have  been  saved  to  householders. 

Suffice  to  briefly  sum  up  the  principal  conclusions  of 
this  admirable  board  of  investigators  of  which  Reed  was 
the  mastermind: 

1.  The  specific  agent  in  the  causation  of  yellow  fever 
exists  in  the  blood  of  a  patient  for  the  first  three  days 


ARMY  251 

of  his  attack,  after  which  time  he  ceases  to  be  a  menace 
to  the  health  of  others. 

2.  A  mosquito  of  a  single  species,  Stegomyia  fasciata, 
investing  the  blood  of  a  patient  during  this   infective 
period,  is  powerless  to  convey  the  disease  to  another  per- 
son by  its  bite  until  about  twelve  days  has  elapsed,  but 
can  do  so  thereafter  for  an  indefinite  period,  probably 
during  the  remainder  of  its  life. 

3.  The  disease  cannot  in  nature  be  spread  in  any 
other  way  than  by  the  bite  of  the  previously  infected 
Stegomyia.     Articles  used  and  soiled  by  patients  do  not 
carry  infection. 

"In  February,  1901,  the  Chief  Sanitary  Officer  in  Ha- 
vana, Major  W.  C.  Gorgas,  Medical  Department  U.  S. 
Army,  instituted  measures  to  eradicate  the  disease,  based 
entirely  on  the  conclusions  of  the  commission,"  writes 
Colonel  McCaw.  "Cases  of  yellow  fever  were  required 
to  be  reported  as  promptly  as  possible,  the  patient  was 
at  first  rigidly  isolated,  and  immediately  upon  the  report 
a  force  of  men  from  the  sanitary  department  visited  the 
house.  All  the  rooms  of  the  buildings  and  of  the  neigh- 
bouring houses  were  sealed  and  fumigated  to  destroy  the 
mosquitoes  present.  Window  and  door  screens  were  put 
up,  and  after  the  death  or  recovery  of  the  patient,  his 
room  was  fumigated  and  every  mosquito  destroyed.  A 
war  of  extermination  was  also  waged  against  mosquitoes 
in  general,  and  an  energetic  effort  was  made  to  diminish 
the  number  bred  by  draining  standing  water,  screening 
tanks  and  vessels,  using  petroleum  on  water  that  could 
not  be  drained,  and  in  the  most  systematic  manner  de- 
stroying the  breeding  places  of  the  insects." 

As  early  as  1902  Major  Gorgas  while  stationed  at 
Havana  had  written  to  Surgeon  General  Sternberg  con- 
cerning the  discoveries  of  the  Reed  Board  and  the  appli- 


252  OUR  UNITED  STATES 

cation  of  these  discoveries  in  eradicating  yellow  fever 
from  Havana,  and  inviting  attention  to  the  fact  that  they 
would  have  a  most  important  bearing  upon  the  con- 
struction of  the  Panama  Canal. 

General  Sternberg  approved  the  idea  and  the  same 
year  Major  Gorgas  was  ordered  back  to  the  United 
States  that  he  might  be  in  close  touch  with  the  prepara- 
tions for  the  Canal  work. 

While  waiting  for  the  organization  to  commence  he 
was  sent  to  Egypt  as  the  representative  of  the  Medical 
Department  of  the  United  States  Army  to  the  first  Egyp- 
tian Medical  Congress,  and  thus  had  an  opportunity  to 
inform  himself  of  the  conditions  which  had  existed  dur- 
ing the  building  of  the  Suez  Canal.  Later  he  was  sent 
as  representative  of  the  United  States  Army  Medical  De- 
partment to  the  Hygiene  Congress  which  met  in  Paris, 
France,  in  October  1903,  where  he  collected  a  great  deal 
of  valuable  data  with  regard  to  the  sanitary  conditions 
existing  at  Panama  during  the  French  regime. 

The  Isthmian  Canal  Commission  was  organized  by  the 
President  in  January,  1904,  and  in  March  of  the  same 
year  Dr.  Gorgas  was  ordered  to  accompany  the  Commis- 
sion to  Panama  as  their  sanitary  adviser. 

The  formal  transference  of  the  Canal  Zone  from  the 
French  to  the  United  States  did  not  take  place  until  May 
4,  1904,  so  that  the  serious  work  of  sanitation  was  not 
inaugurated  until  June. 

With  $50,000  worth  of  supplies  and  the  personnel 
brought  down  at  the  same  time  the  tremendous  task  of 
cleaning  up  the  isthmus  was  begun. 

Yellow  fever  being  the  greatest  plague  on  the  isthmus, 
a  war  was  waged  against  the  extermination  of  the  deadly 
mosquito,  at  the  two  great  terminals,  Colon  and  Panama 
City. 


ARMY  253 

The  manner  of  Mosquito  Destruction  adopted  by  Dr. 
Gorgas  in  his  admirable  sanitary  measures  in  the  Canal 
Zone  was  based  on  the  following  rules.  Houses  were 
fumigated  with  insect  powder  and  sulphur.  The  screen- 
ing of  windows  and  doors  with  fine  netting  was  insti- 
tuted to  prevent  the  passage  of  mosquitoes.  The  care- 
ful screening  of  the  beds  of  fever  patients  or  suspects. 

As  most  mosquitoes  breed  in  water — usually  in  arti- 
ficial collections  of  fresh  water  and  live  in  the  vicinity 
in  which  they  breed,  coal  oil  was  used  on  the  surface  of 
the  water  to  prevent  the  wrigglers  from  coming  to  the 
surface  to  breathe,  thereby  destroying  them.  Water 
from  rain  barrels,  tubs,  buckets,  cans,  flower  pots,  vases 
was  ordered  emptied  every  forty-eight  hours.  Pools, 
ditches,  and  post  holes  were  filled  in  to  prevent  stagnant 
pools  from  forming.  The  water  in  chicken  coops  and 
kennels  was  ordered  changed  daily. 

All  standing  water  which  could  not  be  screened  or 
drained  was  treated  with  coal  oil.  Gold  fish  and  min- 
nows were  introduced  where  it  was  undesirable  to  put 
oil,  such  as  watering  troughs  for  stock,  etc.  Vacant  lots 
and  yards  were  cleaned  of  cans,  tins,  bottles,  etc. 
Weeds,  grass  and  bushes  about  ditches  and  ponds  were 
cleared  away,  and  oil  was  placed  in  gutters,  ditches,  cul- 
verts, manholes  and  catch  basins.  In  fact  after  all 
places  that  were  known  to  breed  mosquitoes  had  been 
treated,  work  was  carried  on  where  they  might  breed. 

"We  carried  fumigation  in  Panama,  however,  much 
further  than  we  had  ever  dreamed  of  doing  at  Havana," 
writes  Dr.  Gorgas.  "Besides  carrying  out  the  method 
which  we  had  developed  at  Havana  of  fumigating  the 
house  where  a  case  of  yellow  fever  had  occurred,  to- 
gether with  all  the  contiguous  houses,  we  adopted  the 
following  plan : 

/ 


254  OUR  UNITED  STATES 

"Panama  compared  with  Havana  was  a  very  small 
town.  Havana  in  1904  had  a  population  of  250,000; 
Panama  about  20,000.  Instead  of  waiting  for  the  slow 
process  of  fumigating  the  house  where  a  yellow  fever 
case  occurred,  with  the  contiguous  houses,  and  thereby 
killing  the  infected  mosquitoes  concerned  in  that  partic- 
ular case,  we  ought  to  be  able,  we  said,  in  a  small  town 
like  Panama  to  fumigate  every  house  in  the  city  within 
a  comparatively  short  time,  and  thereby  get  rid  of  all  the 
infected  mosquitoes  at  one  fell  swoop. 

"This  would  certainly  have  been  the  result  if  our  pre- 
mises had  been  correct,  namely,  that  it  was  the  fumigation 
that  had  caused  the  disappearance  of  yellow  fever  at 
Havana.  With  this  object  in  view,  we  commenced  at 
one  end  of  the  city  and  fumigated  every  building.  It 
took  us  about  a  month  to  get  over  the  whole  town. 
Cases  of  yellow  fever  still  continued  to  occur  after  we 
had  finished.  We  therefore  went  through  the  procedure 
a  second  time.  Still  other  cases  occurred,  and  we  went 
over  the  city  a  third  time.  We  used  up  in  these  fumiga- 
tions in  the  course  of  about  a  year  some  hundred  and 
twenty  tons  of  insect  powder,  and  some  other  hundred 
tons  of  sulphur.  These  quantities  of  material  give  some 
idea  of  the  amount  of  fumigation." 

The  persistence  and  efficiency  of  the  Sanitary  Depart- 
ment, in  spite  of  outside  scepticism  and  discouragement 
won  the  fight  against  the  destructive  agencies  of  disease 
and  by  November,  1905,  the  last  case  of  yellow  fever  oc- 
curred in  Panama. 

"This  fact,"  writes  Dr.  Gorgas,  "quieted  alarm  on  the 
Isthmus,  and  gave  the  sanitary  officials  great  prestige,  not 
only  among  the  now  large  body  of  Canal  employes,  but 
also  among  the  native  population  living  on  the  Isthmus. 

"In  looking  back  over  our  ten  years  of  work,"  he  con- 


ARMY  255 

tinues,  "these  two  years  1905  and  1906  seem  the  halcyon 
days  for  the  Sanitary  Department.  It  was  really  during 
this  period  that  our  work  was  accomplished.  By  the 
fall  of  1907  about  all  of  our  sanitary  work  had  been  com- 
pleted. Our  fight  against  disease  in  Panama  had  been 
won,  and  from  that  time  on  our  attention  was  given  to 
holding  what  had  been  accomplished." 

In  anticipation  of  at  least  50,000  employes  on  the 
Canal  Zone  and  estimating  that  it  was  likely  that  fifty 
per  thousand  of  such  employes  would  be  sick  Colonel 
Gorgas  ably  assisted  by  Dr.  John  W.  Ross  of  the  United 
States  Navy  and  Major  Louis  A.  La  Garde  of  the  United 
States  Army  immediately  set  about  liberal  provision  for 
their  care  in  properly  equipped  hospitals. 

At  Ancon  and  Colon  large  hospitals  were  maintained 
with  smaller  hospitals,  rest  camps  and  dispensaries  along 
the  entire  length  of  the  Canal. 

At  laboga  a  large  sanitarium  was  maintained  to  assist 
the  recuperation  of  those  who  had  recovered  sufficiently 
to  leave  the  hospitals. 

It  is  a  matter  of  congratulation  that  during  the  year 
1913  when  the  maximum  force  was  employed  on  the 
Isthmus  the  constant  sick  rate  was  only  about  twenty- 
two  per  thousand. 

It  will  be  borne  in  mind  that  at  the  same  time  that 
yellow  fever  was  being  eradicated  from  the  Canal  Zone 
an  attack  was  also  being  made  upon  malaria. 

This  work  was  carried  on  along  exactly  the  same  lines 
as  in  the  city  of  Havana.  The  country  along  the  line  of 
the  Canal  between  the  two  termini,  Colon  and  Panama, 
was  entirely  different  and  as  new  conditions  and  as  new 
problems  arose  they  were  met  with  equal  skill  and  ex- 
pediency. 

One  of  the  most  vital  of  sanitary  precautions  taken  on 


256  OUR  UNITED  STATES 

the  Isthmus  was  the  segregation  of  lepers.  "We  estab- 
lished a  colony,"  writes  Dr.  Gorgas,  "on  a  beautifully  lo- 
cated peninsula  running  out  into  the  bay  of  Panama,  and 
almost  as  much  isolated  as  if  it  were  on  an  island.  Here 
they  could  have  their  gardens,  chickens,  fruit  trees,  etc. 
The  location  is  naturally  one  of  the  prettiest  on  the 
bay. 

"We  now  have  there  some  fifty  lepers,  who  are  living 
contented  and  happy.  We  have  a  white  male  trained 
nurse  in  general  charge,  a  white  female  trained  nurse  in 
charge  of  the  women,  and  some  four  or  five  other  em- 
ployes. We  have  a  teacher  for  the  children,  and  the 
lepers  are  always  employed  for  any  work  of  which  they 
are  capable,  and  are  paid  for  this  work  so  as  to  encour- 
age them  to  seek  it. 

"Dr.  Henry  R.  Garten  devoted  a  great  deal  of  time  and 
attention  to  the  establishment  of  this  colony,  and  it  was 
due  to  his  painstaking  personal  care  that  the  matter 
turned  out  so  successfully." 

It  has  been  well  said  that  "Not  since  the  Science  of 
Healing  opened  its  doors  to  the  Science  of  Prevention 
have  physicians  scored  a  greater  victory  in  their  fight 
against  diseases  and  death  than  on  the  Isthmus  of  Pan- 
ama. Not  only  did  they  help  to  build  the  Canal;  they 
demonstrated  that  tropical  diseases  are  capable  of  human 
control  and  thereby  opened  up  a  vista  of  hope  undreamed 
of  to  all  that  sweltering  and  suffering  mass  of  humanity 
that  inhabits  the  Torrid  Zone." 

Upon  the  outbreak  of  the  Spanish  American  war,  a 
young  medical  officer,  Dr.  Bailey  K.  Ashford,  a  graduate 
of  the  Georgetown  University,  who  had  recently  entered 
the  Army  and  finished  his  post-graduate  course  at  the 
Army  Medical  School  in  Washington,  was  ordered  to 
Porto  Rico. 


ARMY  257 

At  the  time  of  the  American  invasion  sanitary  laws 
were  unknown  on  the  Island.  At  the  close  of  the  war 
with  Spain  there  was  great  destitution  and  suffering 
among  the  masses  owing  to  the  general  poverty  and  fail- 
ure of  the  crops.  The  ravages  of  the  unprecedented 
hurricane  of  August,  1899,  in  which  over  2,500  lives  were 
lost,  the  destruction  of  the  customary  food  supplies  and 
the  substitution  therefor  of  other  articles,  resulted  in  a 
large  per  cent,  of  deaths  from  anaemia,  supposedly  pre- 
cipitated by  starvation. 

Dr.  Ash  ford  was  placed  in  a  large  field  hospital  to  aid 
in  caring  for  the  sufferers.  Abundant  food  failed  to  re- 
store to  health  those  suffering  from  anaemia  and  there- 
fore Dr.  Ashford  came  to  the  conclusion  that  some  other 
cause  was  at  the  basis  of  this  prevalent  condition.  His 
attention  was  called  to  the  rapid  rise  in  mortality  which 
in  1900  reached  30  per  cent,  of  all  deaths  and  he  observed 
that  most  cases  developed  in  the  "peon"  class  of  the  pop- 
ulation, the  fatalities  being  especially  great  in  the  rural 
districts.  These  peons  comprise  about  three-fourths  of 
the  population,  live  in  miserable  hovels  and  subsist  on  the 
poorest  quality  of  food.  Having  little  power  of  resist- 
ance they  succumb  rapidly  to  disease.  Up  to  this  time 
there  seemed  to  have  been  no  effort  made  by  resident 
physicians  to  investigate  the  cause  of  so  large  a  mor- 
tality. 

In  describing  the  daily  life  among  the  working  classes, 
Dr.  Ashford  writes  in  his  report,  1899: 

"They  rise  at  from  4  to  6  A.  M.  Some  take  a  little 
black  coffee,  some  boiled  water  and  sugar,  some  nothing. 
They  work  till  11,  when  they  breakfast  on  about  4  ounces 
of  codfish,  and  a  few  pieces  of  plantain.  They  return  to 
work  at  one  and  continue  till  five  P.  M.  Dinner  is  com- 
posed of  rice  and  beans,  some  have  only  boiled  rice  with 


258  OUR  UNITED  STATES 

lard,  and  some  boiled  rice  alone.  It  may  be  mentioned 
that  they  get  plenty  of  bad  rum  and  some  bad  wine. 
This  seems  a  slight  enough  diet,  but  the  hurricane  de- 
prived them  of  even  this,  and  the  sick  poor  came  drifting 
down  on  Ponce.  I  believe  it  not  probable  that  those  de- 
graded to  the  level  of  people  whose  life  is  bounded  by  a 
tropical  plantation,  enjoying  little  beyond  the  cutting  of 
cane  and  the  picking  of  coffee,  can  have  a  high  standard 
of  personal  cleanliness,  and,  as  a  fact,  bathing  is  not 
often  practiced." 

Dr.  Ash  ford  made  microscopical  examinations  and  dis- 
covered ankylostoma  or  hook  worm,  a  parasite  known  to 
have  caused  a  similar  condition  in  other  tropical  coun- 
tries. At  Ponce,  in  December,  1899,  Dr.  Ashford  made 
what  has  proved  to  be  the  first  announcement  of  the  ex- 
istence of  ankylostoma  on  the  islands. 

The  hook  worm  disease,  due  to  soil  pollution,  is  caused 
by  small  round  worms  of  different  species,  which  attack 
various  animals,  man,  dogs,  cattle,  sheep,  swine,  etc.,  but 
the  forms  which  occur  in  man  are  peculiar  to  man  and  do 
not  reach  maturity  in  our  domesticated  animals,  neither 
do  the  forms  which  occur  in  the  latter  develop  to  ma- 
turity in  man. 

The  New  World  hook  worm  is  a  slender  worm  about 
half  an  inch  long  and  scarcely  thicker  than  a  small  sized 
hair  pin.  In  its  adult  stage  the  parasite  lives  in  the  small 
intestine,  especially  in  the  upper  half,  occasionally  also 
in  the  stomach.  It  attaches  itself  to  the  intestinal  wall, 
sucks  the  blood,  eats  the  epitheleum,  and  apparently  pro- 
duces a  poisonous  substance. 

Dr.  Ashford  demonstrated  that  the  hook  worm  entered 
the  body  through  the  cuticle  of  persons  going  barefoot 
on  the  islands,  or  may  be  taken  into  the  body  from  un- 
washed fruits  or  vegetables.  The  larvae  burrow  into  the 


ARMY  259 

human  flesh  under  the  nails  or  any  other  accessible  part, 
through  the  hair  folicles  or  through  the  pores. 

The  result  of  Dr.  Ashford's  researches  was  the  ap- 
pointment of  the  Porto  Rico  Anaemia  Commission  in 
February,  1904,  by  the  Legislature  of  Porto  Rico,  and  an 
appropriation  of  $5,000  the  first  year,  $15,000  the  sec- 
ond and  $50,000  in  1906  for  the  purpose  of  eradicating 
the  disease  from  the  islands. 

The  original  members  of  this  commission  comprised 
Captain  and  Asst.  Surg.  B.  K.  Ashford,  Dr.  Pedro 
Gutierrez  and  Past  Assistant  Surg.  W.  W.  King  of  the 
Marine  Hospital  Service.  Under  authority  from  the 
United  States  War  Department  practically  all  the  camp 
equipment  was  loaned  to  the  commission  by  the  military 
authorities  in  San  Juan. 

The  location  selected  for  the  first  camp  was  at  Baya- 
mon,  P.  R.,  near  the  local  city  hospital.  The  camp  con- 
sisted of  ten  tents,  eight  tents  of  six  beds,  one  dining 
room  tent,  and  one  administration  tent. 

The  worst  patients  were  admitted  only  for  three  or 
four  days  while  thymol  was  being  administered.  Some 
few  had  to  be  kept  for  a  short  time  longer.  Most  pa- 
tients were  given  their  medicine  to  take  at  their  homes. 

During  the  first  two  months,  March  and  April,  1904, 
937  cases  of  anaemia  were  examined  and  treated. 

When  the  commission  began  its  work  there  was  openly 
expressed  scepticism  among  both  physicians  and  laity. 

The  simple  treatment  by  the  administration  of  thymol 
had  beneficial  results  and  in  addition  to  being  cured,  the 
patient  was  given  some  instruction  as  to  the  means  of 
prevention.  A  few  plain  explanations  were  given  as  to 
the  cause  of  the  disease,  how  it  was  contracted,  and  how 
to  prevent  reinfection.  Specimens  of  the  parasite  were 
shown,  and  a  small  pamphlet  containing  these  explana- 


260          OUR  UNITED  STATES 

tions  in  simple  language  was  given  to  those  who  could 
read  or  had  any  one  to  read  to  them. 

Every  effort  had  been  made  by  the  commission  to  in- 
duce the  natives  to  wear  shoes,  to  take  measures  for 
greater  personal  cleanliness  and  proper  house  sanitation. 

In  November,  1910,  the  total  number  of  persons 
treated  in  Porto  Rico  had  reached  287,000,  of  which  40 
to  50  per  cent,  were  completely  cured. 

The  importance  and  far  reaching  results  of  Major 
Ashford's  discovery  is,  in  the  opinion  of  Dr.  C.  W.  Stiles, 
a  leading  authority  on  the  subject  and  a  member  of  the 
Rockefeller  Sanitary  Commission  for  the  Eradication  of 
Hookworm  Disease,  one  of  the  most  important  results 
of  the  Spanish  American  War. 

The  sanitary  and  economic  importance  of  the  work 
done  at  the  instigation  of  Major  Ashford  in  Porto  Rico 
is  likened  to  the  work  of  the  yellow  fever  commission 
in  Cuba. 

It  will  be  recalled  that  the  Rockefeller  fund  of  $1,000,- 
000  was  given  in  October,  1909,  for  the  eradication 
of  the  disease  in  the  United  States  and  especially  in  the 
Southern  States  where  it  is  very  prevalent. 

At  the  invitation  of  the  Rockefeller  Foundation  Dr. 
Ashford  made  a  journey  to  Brazil  in  January,  1916,  as  a 
member  of  the  International  Health  Commission  for  the 
purpose  of  studying  the  health  conditions  of  Brazil. 
The  result  of  valuable  services  was  the  hearty  co-opera- 
tion of  the  Brazilian  authorities  in  a  movement  to  eradi- 
cate uncinariasis  and  other  tropical  diseases  from  that 
country. 

The  epidemic  of  Asiatic  Cholera  which  broke  out  in 
the  Philippines  in  1902  was  brought  to  a  successful  ter- 
mination in  1904.  The  devastations  of  this  plague  had 
reached  the  appalling  number  of  300,000  deaths,  over 


ARMY  261 

one-twentieth  of  the  population  of  the  islands  being 
destroyed  in  little  over  a  year.  The  skilful  and  deter- 
mined war  waged  by  United  States  Medical  officers  not 
only  by  those  on  duty  with  the  Army,  but  those  on  duty 
with  the  civil  government  brought  the  frightful  epidemic 
under  control.  Recognizing  the  fact  that  the  disease  is 
introduced  into  a  community  only  by  another  case,  by 
water  or  by  certain  food  products,  strict  quarantine  was 
established  on  all  incoming  shipping.  Fumigation  and 
extermination  of  vermin,  especially  rats,  the  insistence 
upon  isolation  of  cases  and  proper  sanitation  of  com- 
munities, though  greatly  impeded  by  the  ignorance  and 
superstition  of  the  natives,  nevertheless  the  campaign 
against  the  disease  was  finally  crowned  with  success  and 
many  thousands  of  lives  were  saved. 

The  work  accomplished  by  the  Board  for  the  Study  of 
Tropical  Diseases  as  they  occur  in  the  Philippine  Islands 
has  been  of  a  very  high  order ;  though  the  nature  of  their 
investigations  has  been  such  as  not  to  show  immediate 
results  in  the  control  of  disease,  they  have  been  of  much 
scientific  importance.  Among  other  things  the  board 
has  been  the  first  to  demonstrate  that  dengue,  which  is 
so  prevalent  in  the  Philippine  Islands,  is  carried  by  the 
mosquito  of  a  certain  species,  thus  pointing  the  way  to 
its  successful  prevention. 

Following  the  great  earthquake  and  fire  which  nearly 
destroyed  the  city  of  San  Francisco  on  April  18,  1906, 
and  the  days  following,  most  admirable  sanitary  and 
emergency  work  was  done  by  the  officers  and  men  of  the 
Medical  Corps  under  the  able  direction  of  Lieut.  Colonel 
Torney,  who  upon  the  request  of  the  mayor  of  the  city 
was  placed  at  the  head  of  a  joint  committee  of  the  city, 
state  and  federal  authorities  to  control  the  sanitation. 

As  a  result  of  the  persistent  efforts  of  the  Medical  De- 


262  OUR  UNITED  STATES 

partment  in  the  prevention  of  disease,  there  has  been  a 
gradual  reduction  in  the  death  rate  which  in  1906  was 
3.28  per  thousand  of  mean  strength  for  the  Army,  the 
lowest  attained  since  the  occupation  of  tropical  countries, 
while  in  the  United  States  proper  the  rate  was  2.84,  the 
lowest  ever  attained  in  the  history  of  the  Army. 

Following  closely  upon  this  extraordinary  work  of  the 
Medical  Corps  of  the  Army  is  the  especially  important 
labours  of  Major  Frederick  F.  Russell  of  the  Medical 
Corps  in  regard  to  the  anti-typhoid  vaccination. 

Major  Russell  is  practically  a  pioneer  in  this  work  in 
this  country  and  has  done  substantially  all  of  the  work 
which  has  been  so  far  accomplished  along  this  line  in  the 
United  States. 

In  his  report  of  the  Results  of  anti-typhoid  Vaccina- 
tion in  the  Army  in  1911,  and  its  suitability  for  use  in 
civil  communities,  Major  Russell  modestly  sets  forth  the 
results  of  his  experience. 

"A  great  part  of  the  work  of  introducing  this  form 
of  prophylaxis  has  fallen  on  my  shoulders,"  he  writes, 
in  his  report  of  1911,  "but,  without  the  active  interest 
and  energetic  support  of  the  Surgeon  General,  and  the 
loyal  co-operation  of  every  member  of  the  medical  corps, 
little  or  nothing  could  have  been  accomplished. 

"In  the  Army,  during  times  of  peace,"  he  continues, 
"our  posts  are  like  small  communities,  with  their  own 
water  supplies,  sewerage  systems  and  organized  adminis- 
tration of  community  affairs.  So  long  as  troops  are  in 
garrison  they  have  no  more  disease  than  exists  in  the 
adjoining  communities.  We  are,  however,  not  content 
with  this  condition  of  safety,  but  must  descend  from  our 
fastnesses,  and  in  the  absence  of  real  war,  engage  in 
mimic  battles  and  campaigns.  From  the  purely  military 
point  of  view  these  movements  are  manoeuvres,  not  war, 


ARMY  263 

but  from  the  standpoint  of  health  and  disease  there 
exists  the  same  real  danger  as  in  actual  war.  As  the 
Medical  Corps  is  charged  with  the  preservation  of  the 
health  of  the  Army,  we  have  endeavored  to  protect  it 
against  typhoid,  not  merely  in  garrison,  but  also  in  the 
field,  in  campaign  and  on  the  march. 

"Our  knowledge  of  vaccination  against  typhoid  fever 
begins  with  the  work  of  Pfeiffer  and  Kolle,  who  in  1896, 
immunized  two  men  and  made  complete  and  comprehen- 
sive studies  of  the  blood  changes  following  inoculation 
with  killed  cultures,  showing,  as  far  as  laboratory 
methods  permit,  the  identity  of  the  immunity  following 
an  attack  of  the  disease,  and  the  artificial  immunity  pro- 
duced by  inoculation. 

"At  about  the  same  time  Wright,  of  London,  inoculated 
two  men  .with  killed  typhoid  bacilli,  but  his  main  work 
was  published  in  the  following  year,  1897,  when  he  re- 
ported the  successful  immunization  of  seventeen  persons. 

"A  second  period  in  the  history  of  anti-typhoid  vac- 
cination begins  with  the  work  of  Sir  William  B.  Leish- 
man,  in  1904.  He  took  up  the  subject  when  Wright  left 
the  Army,  and  has  remained  in  charge  up  to  the  present 
time. 

"Our  own  experiences  with  anti-typhoid  vaccination," 
continues  Major  Russell,  ''began  in  1908,  and  early  in 
1909  we  vaccinated  all  who  volunteered.  In  1909  we 
immunized  1,887  persons,  in  1910,  16,073.  For  1911  the 
figures  are  not  yet  complete,  but  are  estimated  at  over 
80,000,  making  the  total  number  of  persons  immunised 
approximately  100,000.  Over  80  per  cent,  of  these  have 
received  the  full  course  of  three  doses.  The  vaccine  has 
been  prepared  in  the  laboratory  of  the  Army  Medical 
School,  and  the  immunization  has  been  carried  on  with- 
out accidents. 


264  OUR  UNITED  STATES 

"The  recent  mobilization  of  troops  in  Texas  has 
afforded  an  exceptional  opportunity  to  test  the  method 
of  individual  protection  by  means  of  prophylactic  vac- 
cination. Large  numbers  of  troops  have  been  vac- 
cinated by  the  English  in  South  Africa  and  in  India, 
and  in  the  United  States  during  the  past  two  years,  but 
this  is  the  first  time  in  the  history  of  the  subject  that 
vaccination  against  typhoid  has  been  compulsory. 

"The  vaccination  of  volunteers  had  been  in  progress  for 
over  two  years  and  a  small  number  of  men  had  already 
been  protected  before  orders  for  mobilization  were 
issued.  On  arrival  at  the  manoeuvre  camp  all  others  were 
vaccinated  as  rapidly  as  vaccine  could  be  prepared  and 
shipped  to  Texas.  In  about  one  month  from  the  be- 
ginning of  the  movement,  the  immunization  of  the  entire 
command  was  completed.  The  whole  program  was  car- 
ried out  under  the  direction  of  the  Chief  Surgeon  Colonel 
Birmingham,  promptly  and  systematically  and  without 
protest,  either,  in  or  out  of  the  service,  as  the  idea  was 
not  new  to  either  officers  or  men,  since  some  one  had 
received  the  treatment  voluntarily  at  every  post  in  the 
Army  during  our  preliminary  campaign. 

"The  troops  remained  in  their  several  camps  from 
March  10,  1911,  to  the  middle  of  July,  a  period  of  ap- 
proximately four  months,  and  during  that  time  there 
were  two  cases  of  typhoid  with  no  deaths." 

Thus  briefly  does  Major  Russell  summarize  the  re- 
markable results  of  his  unique  labors. 

The  problem  of  successful  anti-typhoid  vaccination 
has  been  adopted  by  the  leading  medical  men  in  civil 
life  throughout  the  world.  These  instances  of  effici- 
ency and  original  work  in  fields  of  usefulness  to  man- 
kind are  but  examples  of  the  varied  and  important  labors 
of  the  Army  Medical  Corps  of  the  United  States. 


CHAPTER  XV 
THE  PANAMA  CANAL 

THE  desire  for  a  shorter  route  to  the  far  East  was  the 
motive  which  prompted  the  journey  of  Columbus  and 
the  discovery  of  America.  His  ambition  to  find  a  pass- 
age somewhere  in  the  narrow  neck  of  land  connecting 
the  continents  of  North  and  South  America  was  the 
object  of  a  subsequent  journey  when  he  skirted  the 
coast  of  Darien  in  1502  and  1503  but  was  compelled  to 
abandon  his  search  owing  to  the  mutinous  conduct  of  his 
crew. 

Vasco  Nunez  de  Balboa,  after  suffering  incredible 
hardships  from  the  rugged  nature  of  the  country  and 
the  hostility  of  the  inhabitants,  at  last  reached  the  Pacific 
Ocean  in  1531. 

An  early  Spanish  governor  of  the  colony  established 
on  the  Caribbean  side,  Pedro  Arias  de  Avila  by  name, 
pushed  his  way  across  the  Isthmus  and  in  1516  claimed 
possession  in  behalf  of  Spain  and  named  a  small  fishing 
village  which  he  had  reached  on  the  Pacific  side,  Panama, 
the  local  Indian  name  for  fisherman. 

Three  years  later  Pedrarias  founded  the  old  city  of 
Panama  which  with  rapid  strides  became  a  city  of  first 
importance  in  Spanish  American  control.  It  was  the 
foremost  shipping  centre  of  Latin  America,  through 
which  flowed  the  vast  wealth  of  gold,  silver  and  precious 
stones  despoiled  from  the  Inca  temples  of  Peru,  and 

265 


266  OUR  UNITED  STATES 

the  distributing  centre  of  the  north  and  south  of  the 
exports  from  the  mother  country  of  Spain.  Across  the 
stone-paved  highways,  through  the  tropical  jungle,  from 
Porto  Bello  on  the  Caribbean  side  to  Panama,  the  rich 
pack  trains  moved  in  a  continuous  line  and  enriched 
the  commerce  of  the  Spanish  world  for  a  period  of  two 
hundred  years. 

The  idea  of  a  canal  took  birth  early  in  the  sixteenth 
century  and  a  Spanish  Engineer  of  renown  named  Saa- 
vedra  advocated  the  plan  as  early  as  1617. 

In  the  reign  of  Charles  the  V  of  Spain,  surveys  were 
ordered,  but  the  feasibility  of  such  a  plan  was  reported 
in  the  negative.  Phillip  II,  successor  to  Charles  V, 
sent  an  engineer  in  1567  to  survey  the  Nicaragua  route, 
but  his  report  was  also  unfavourable  to  the  success  of  the 
project. 

In  his  disappointment  at  this  adverse  opinion,  Philip 
consulted  the  Dominican  friars,  who,  anxious  to  curry 
favor  with  the  King,  yet  unable  to  report  intelligently 
on  such  a  problem,  gravely  sought  refuge  in  the  Bible, 
and  quoted  the  following  verse,  as  bearing  directly  on 
the  project  of  the  Isthmian  Canal: 

"What  God  hath  joined  together,  let  no  man  put 
asunder." 

King  Philip  meekly  bowed  before  the  superior  decree, 
abandoned  his  cherished  ambition  and  for  a  period  of 
two  hundred  years  his  successors  abided  in  good  faith  by 
the  justice  of  the  friars'  biblical  application. 

In  1814  the  waning  prestige  of  Spanish  rule  gave  a 
rebirth  to  the  commercial  benefits  to  be  derived  from  a 
canal  and  Spain  entered  upon  a  decree  for  the  construc- 
tion of  such  a  waterway,  but  the  independence  of  her 
Central  and  South  American  colonies  was  soon  after 
declared,  and  resulted  in  throwing  off  the  yoke  of  Spain, 


ARMY  267 

likewise  ending  Spanish  interest  in  the  problem  of  a 
canal. 

In  the  latter  part  of  the  eighteenth  century  and  the 
decade  following,  England  showed  her  desire  to  advance 
her  commercial  interests,  and  had  under  Lord  Nelson 
and  Baron  von  Humboldt,  made  researches  and  reports 
on  the  Nicaragua  and  other  routes. 

A  Frenchman,  Baron  Thierry,  secured  a  franchise 
from  President  Bolira  of  the  Republic  of  New  Grenada, 
in  1825,  for  the  construction  of  a  canal,  but  for  the  lack 
of  funds  was  obliged  to  forego  the  undertaking.  A  Brit- 
ish engineer,  Mr.  J.  A.  Lloyd,  was  then  commissioned 
by  the  Republic  of  Grenada  to  survey  the  Isthmus  for 
a  road  or  a  canal. 

The  awakening  of  the  United  States  to  the  importance 
of  such  a  project  was  due  primarily  to  Henry  Clay, 
who,  in  the  year  1835,  introduced  into  the  Senate  a  reso- 
lution, the  result  of  which  prompted  President  Jackson 
to  commission  Mr.  Charles  Biddle  to  visit  and  report  on 
the  availability  of  the  different  routes. 

The  financial  panic  of  1837  placed  the  United  States 
in  a  position  where  such  a  tremendous  undertaking  could 
no  longer  be  considered  and  the  matter  was  dropped. 

The  French  meanwhile  had  become  active  and  a  com- 
pany had  secured  a  grant  in  1838  for  the  construction 
of  highways,  railroads  or  a  canal  across  the  Isthmus. 
Napoleon  Garella,  a  French  engineer,  was  commissioned 
by  the  Government  to  report  on  the  enterprise,  and  he 
favored  a  canal  as  the  only  permanent  and  successful 
communication  across  the  Isthmus.  Lack  of  financial 
backing  for  so  gigantic  an  enterprise  caused  the  abandon- 
ment of  the  concession. 

The  United  States  renewed  her  interest  in  the  project 
following  the  settlement  of  the  Northwest  boundary 


268  OUR  UNITED  STATES 

question,  by  which  we  came  into  possession  of  Oregon, 
and  by  the  Mexican  War  which  extended  our  domain 
to  the  Pacific  coast,  including  the  territory  north  of  the 
Rio  Grande,  and  the  state  of  California. 

Communication  overland  to  the  Pacific  coast  was  costly, 
difficult  and  beset  with  dangers,  the  long  sea  route  via 
Cape  Horn  was  also  tedious  and  unduly  long,  there- 
fore the  Isthmus  became  once  more  the  centre  of  trans- 
portation and  three  enterprising  North  Americans, 
Messrs.  Aspinwall,  Stephens  and  Chauncey,  secured  a 
very  advantageous  franchise  from  the  government  of 
New  Grenada  in  the  year  1848  for  the  purpose  of  con- 
structing a  railroad  from  Aspinwall  (now  Colon)  to 
Panama. 

The  discovery  of  gold  in  California  and  the  rush  of 
the  Forty-niners  by  way  of  steamer  to  the  Isthmus  and 
from  the  Isthmus  to  California  and  Oregon  added  im- 
petus to  the  construction  of  the  famous  Panama  Rail- 
road, which  was  opened  to  the  traffic  of  the  world  in 
1855. 

A  first-class  fare  across  the  Isthmus  in  those  early 
days  cost  $25,  over  50  cents  a  mile  for  a  four-hour  jour- 
ney. The  present  rate  is  $2.40  and  the  time  occupied 
in  the  journey  is  two  hours  and  a  quarter. 

"From  1835  to  1895  inclusive,"  writes  Mr.  H.  H. 
Rousseau,  civil  engineer  U.  S.  Navy,  member  of  the 
Isthmian  Canal  Commission,  "the  railroad  company  paid 
dividends  in  stock  and  cash  amounting  to  $37,800,000  or 
over  600  per  cent,  and  averaging  a  little  less  than  15  per 
cent,  per  annum. 

"Railroad  communication  across  the  Isthmus  was  now 
finally  established,"  he  continues,  "and  the  construction 
of  a  canal  was  relegated  to  the  background,  so  far  as 
the  territory  controlled  by  the  Panama  Railroad  was  con- 


ARMY  269 

cerned.  Meanwhile  other  canal  routes  were  explored 
by  a  small  army  of  promoters." 

Altogether  nineteen  different  routes  have  been  sug- 
gested and  received  more  or  less  attention.  Of  these,  the 
Tehuantepec,  Nicaragua,  Panama,  and  Darien  projects 
are  the  most  important,  and  Nicaragua  has  been  Pana- 
ma's principal  rival  in  the  last  thirty  years. 

Favorable  as  were  the  privileges  conceded  to  the 
Panama  Railroad  Company,  it  was  the  general  public 
opinion  that  it  failed  to  satisfy  the  requirements  of  inter- 
oceanic  communication.  In  1869  President  Grant  insti- 
gated an  interoceanic  canal  commission  which  resulted 
in  a  series  of  surveys  by  Army  and  Navy  Engineers 
which  were  carried  on  for  a  period  of  years. 

In  1870  a  treaty  was  signed  between  the  United  States 
of  Colombia  and  our  government  providing  that  the  work 
would  be  undertaken  if  a  satisfactory  route  could  be  sur- 
veyed. The  commission  reported  favorably  on  the 
Nicaragua  route  in  1876,  but  Congress  failed  to  promote 
the  enterprise  and  the  United  States  temporarily  lost  its 
opportunity. 

Meanwhile  representatives  of  France  stepped  in, 
organized  the  Universal  Interoceanic  Canal  Company 
with  Ferdinand  de  Lesseps  at  its  head  and  incorporated 
in  Paris  during  the  year  1878. 

Concessions  from  the  United  States  of  Colombia  were 
secured  by  De  Lesseps,  who  advocated  the  Panama  route 
at  the  International  Congress  of  Surveys  for  an  Inter- 
oceanic Canal  which  met  in  Paris  in  1879.  The  project 
now  took  definite  shape  and  for  a  period  of  twenty-eight 
years — until  1904,  remained  under  the  direction  of  the 
French.  The  control  of  the  Panama  Railroad  Company 
was  secured  at  a  high  figure. 

The  prestige  of  De  Lesseps,  who  advocated  a  sea  level 


270  OUR  UNITED  STATES 

type  as  the  successful  engineer  of  the  Suez  Canal,  caused 
the  stock  of  the  new  company  to  be  eagerly  seized  upon 
as  a  mine  of  treasure.  The  French  middle  class,  in  their 
idolatrous  worship  of  Le  Grand  Homme  de  France, 
placed  their  life  savings  in  perfect  faith  and  eagerness 
in  the  stupendous  scheme,  which  was  to  permanently 
enrich  them.  Hardly  had  the  work  begun  when  the 
havoc  of  malarial  and  yellow  fever  on  the  canal  zone 
reached  a  tremendous  mortality. 

Work  proceeded  slowly  and  steadily  in  the  face  of 
great  obstacles,  but  subscriptions  began  to  dwindle,  until 
in  the  year  1887  it  became  evident  that  to  continue  the 
work  on  its  present  financial  basis  would  be  impossible. 
Tremendous  expense  involved  in  certain  engineering 
changes  found  necessary  as  the  work  advanced  caused 
discredit  to  fall  upon  the  company  and  two  years  later 
it  went  into  bankruptcy. 

Over  $260,000,000  of  French  money  had  been  sunk 
in  the  great  ditch  at  a  cost  of  excavation  of  $4  per  cubic 
yard. 

"The  New  Panama  Canal  Company  was  formed  in 
October,  1894,"  writes  Rousseau,  "and  resumed  oper- 
ations on  the  canal,  principally  in  Culebra  cut,  in  accord- 
ance with  plans  recommended  by  a  commission  of 
engineers.  This  company  continued  to  do  sufficient  work 
to  maintain  its  franchise  until  all  of  its  rights  and  prop- 
erty were  transferred  to  the  United  States  Government 
in  1904.  It  excavated  about  11,400,000  cubic  yards. 
During  this  time,  also,  very  thorough  investigations  of 
all  engineering  matters  pertaining  to  the  construction  of 
the  canal  were  made,  which  have  since  proved  of  great 
value. 

"Progress  having  practically  ceased  at  Panama  under 


ARMY  271 

the  new  French  Canal  Company,  to  meet  the  growing 
sentiment  in  favor  of  more  satisfactory  inter-oceanic 
communication,  on  March  3,  1899,  the  Congress  of  the 
United  States  passed  an  act  authorizing  the  President  to 
make  full  and  complete  investigations  of  the  Isthmus  of 
Panama,  with  a  view  to  the  construction  of  a  canal  to 
connect  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  Oceans.  This  marks 
the  opening  of  the  last  chapter  in  the  construction  of  the 
Panama  Canal,"  continues  Rousseau,  "the  end  of  which 
is  now,  by  the  early  completion  of  the  canal,  in  sight. 
The  commission  (of  which  Admiral  John  G.  Walker  was 
chairman)  appointed  in  accordance  with  the  above  act, 
was  called  upon  to  investigate  particularly  the  Nicaragua 
and  the  Panama  routes,  and  to  report  which  was  more 
practicable  and  feasible  and  the  cost.  In  November, 
1901,  it  reported  in  favor  of  the  Nicaragua  route,  con- 
sidering the  demands  of  the  New  Panama  Canal  Com- 
pany for  its  franchise  and  property  more  than  balanced 
the  other  advantages  of  the  Panama  route.  The  price 
fixed  by  the  Panama  Canal  Company  was  $109,000,000. 
By  subsequent  negotiations  the  French  company  was 
induced  to  reduce  its  price  to  $40,000,000,  and  the  com- 
mission in  January,  1902,  submitted  a  supplemental 
report  in  favour  of  the  Panama  route.  The  plan  recom- 
mended by  the  commission  was  for  a  lock  canal,  with  a 
sea-level  channel  from  Colon  to  Bohio.  A  dam  at  Bohio, 
across  the  Chagres  Valley,  was  to  create  a  summit  level 
82  to  90  feet  above  the  sea,  to  be  reached  by  two  locks. 
The  lake  extended  to  Pedro  Miguel,  where  two  locks 
lowered  the  level  to  28  feet  above  sea  level.  At  Mira- 
flores,  sea  level  was  reached  through  a  third  lock.  The 
bottom  width  was  to  be  150  feet,  except  in  Panama  Bay, 
where  it  was  200  feet,  and  in  Limon  Bay,  500  feet,  with 


272  OUR  UNITED  STATES 

turning  basins  800  feet  wide.  The  minimum  depth  was 
35  feet.  The  locks  were  to  be  740  feet  long  and  84 
feet  wide. 

"In  accordance  with  this  report,  act  of  Congress  of 
June  28,  1902,  known  since  as  the  'Spooner  Act/  author- 
ized the  President  of  the  United  States  to  proceed  with 
the  construction  of  a  canal  by  the  Panama  route,  pro- 
vided arrangements  could  be  made  with  the  New  Pana- 
ma Canal  Company  for  the  purchase  of  its  property  and 
franchise  for  not  exceeding  $40,000,000,  and  provided 
arrangements  could  be  made  with  the  Republic  of  Colom- 
bia for  the  control  of  the  necessary  right  of  way.  In 
the  event  of  failure  of  these  negotiations,  the  Nicaragua 
route  was  to  be  adopted.  The  law  provided  that  the 
canal  should  be  'of  sufficient  capacity  and  depth  as  shall 
afford  convenient  passage  for  vessels  of  the  largest  ton- 
nage and  greatest  draft  now  in  use  and  such  as  may  be 
reasonably  anticipated.' 

"Satisfactory  arrangements  were  completed  for  the 
purchase  of  the  French  company's  right,  etc.,  for  $40,- 
000,000,  and  negotiations  with  the  Republic  of  Colombia 
were  carried  on  to  secure  other  necessary  rights  and 
privileges  not  held  by  the  French  company.  After  a 
long  delay,  a  satisfactory  treaty  was  formulated,  which 
was  rejected  by  Colombia  in  1903. 

"The  province  of  Panama,  an  integral  part  of  Colom- 
bia, thereupon  seceded  and  organized  an  independent 
republic  with  an  area  of  about  31,000  square  miles  and 
a  population  which  at  present  is  stated  to  be  419,000. 
This  resulted  in  the  negotiation  of  a  satisfactory  treaty 
with  the  new  Republic  of  Panama,  including  the  payment, 
under  certain  terms,  of  $10,000,000  by  the  United  States 
to  the  Republic  of  Panama  and  an  annual  payment  of 
$250,000  beginning  nine  years  after  the  signing  of  the 


ARMY  273 

treaty.  Under  this  treaty  the  United  States  guaranteed 
the  independence  of  the  Republic  of  Panama  and  secured 
absolute  control  over  what  is  now  called  the  Canal  Zone, 
a  strip  of  land  about  10  miles  in  width,  with  the  canal 
through  the  centre,  and  45  miles  in  length  from  sea  to  sea, 
with  an  area  of  about  448  square  miles.  The  United 
States  also  has  jurisdiction  over  the  adjacent  water  for 
3  miles  from  shore.  To  all  intents  and  purposes  it  is 
a  perpetual  lease  from  the  Republic  of  Panama  to  the 
United  States  of  all  governmental  rights  and  privileges 
in  this  territory,  and  yet,  strictly  speaking,  it  is  not  United 
States  soil,  for  residents  therein  acquire  no  rights  of 
United  States  citizenship  and  have  no  voice  in  United 
States  elections,  while  citizens  of  the  Republic  of  Panama 
residing  in  the  Canal  Zone  are  protected  in  their  electoral 
rights  and  are  accustomed  to  go  to  Panama  and  Colon 
to  vote  in  the  Panama  elections." 

"Six  days  after  promulgation  of  the  treaty,"  writes 
John  Barrett,  Director  General  of  the  Pan  American 
Union,  "President  Roosevelt,  acting  under  authority  of 
the  Spooner  Act,  appointed  the  body  known  as  the  Isth- 
mian Canal  Commission  to  have  charge  of  canal  con- 
struction. The  appointment  was  confirmed  by  the  Sen- 
ate on  the  3rd  of  March,  1904.  Of  the  seven  members 
of  which  it  was  composed,  Rear- Admiral  John  G.  Walker 
(the  same  who  had  served  on  the  earlier  commission) 
was  made  Chairman  and  Maj.-Gen.  George  W.  Davis, 
Civil  Governor  of  the  Canal  Zone.  They  reached  the 
Isthmus  on  the  17th  of  May  and  two  days  later,  by  an 
appropriate  proclamation,  took  formal  possession  in  the 
name  of  the  United  States.  On  the  1st  of  June,  1904, 
John  Findley  Wallace,  formerly  general  manager  of  the 
Illinois  Central  Railroad,  was  appointed  Engineer  in 
Chief  and  repaired  at  once  to  the  Isthmus.  There  also 


274  OUR  UNITED  STATES 

went  Col.  C.  Gorgas,  who  had  been  health  officer  at  Ha- 
vana, Cuba,  during  the  occupation  by  the  United  States 
troops  following  the  Spanish  War,  and,  with  the  prelim- 
inary operations  on  the  canal  itself,  the  all-important 
work  of  sanitation  was  begun. 

"In  the  fall  of  1904,"  continues  Barrett,  "I  was  United 
States  minister  to  Panama.  William  H.  Taft,  then 
Secretary  of  War,  visited  the  Isthmus,  accompanied  by 
William  Nelson  Cromwell  and  Charles  E.  Magoon  for 
the  purpose  of  adjusting  many  delicate  and  important 
questions  which  had  naturally  arisen  between  the  Gov- 
ernment of  Panama  and  that  of  the  Canal  Zone.  These 
three  assisted  by  Governor  Davis  and  myself  held  numer- 
ous conferences  with  President  Amador  Guerrero  of 
Panama  and  members  of  his  cabinet  until  all  questions  at 
issue  were  satisfactorily  settled.  In  these  discussions  the 
great  tact,  amiability  and  judgment  of  Mr.  Taft  were 
most  potent  factors  for  a  harmonious  agreement. 

"The  commission  was  reorganized  by  executive  order 
of  April  1,  1905.  In  the  new  personnel,  Theodore  P. 
Shonts  became  Chairman  of  the  Commission,  and  John  F. 
Wallace  was  appointed  Chief  Engineer  and  Charles  E. 
Magoon,  Civil  Governor.  The  other  members  were  Ad- 
miral Mordecai  T.  Endicott,  Gen.  Peter  C.  Haines,  Col. 
Ernst,  and  Benjamin  M.  Harrod.  On  the  28th  of  June 
of  the  same  year,  Mr.  Wallace  resigned  and  was  suc- 
ceeded by  John  F.  Stevens,  who  entered  upon  his  new 
duties  on  the  1st  of  July,  1905.  Later,  by  order  of 
March  4,  1907,  he  was  made  Chairman  of  the  Commis- 
sion in  the  place  of  Mr.  Shonts,  who  had  resigned,  and 
Col.  George  Washington  Goethals,  of  the  Army  Engin- 
eer Corps,  was  appointed  to  the  vacancy.  Mr.  Stevens, 
in  turn,  resigned  on  the  3rd  of  March,  1907,  whereupon 
the  Government  determined  to  take  over  the  work  itself, 


ARMY  275 

and  on  the  1st  of  April,  1907,  Col.  Goethals  was  appointed 
Chairman  and  Chief  Engineer.  By  a  further  order, 
dated  the  next  day,  he  was  also  made  Civil  Governor  of 
the  Canal  Zone.  Other  appointments  to  the  Commis- 
sion included  Col.  H.  F.  Hodges,  Lieut.-Col.  D.  D.  Gail- 
lard,  Lieut.-Col.  William  L.  Sibert,  Civil  Engineer  H.  H. 
Rousseau  of  the  Navy,  Col.  W.  C.  Gorgas,  Maurice  H. 
Thatcher,  and  Joseph  Buckin  Bishop,  Secretary." 

The  vexations  which  had  perplexed  the  President 
under  the  civil  control  of  the  work  of  constructing  the 
Panama  Canal  practically  ceased  when  it  was  finally 
turned  over  to  military  administration.  As  a  contem- 
porary writer  has  remarked,  the  President  had  the  satis- 
faction of  knowing  that  the  Army  Engineers  would  not 
resign — they  were  moreover  used  to  Governmental  red 
tape,  to  the  delays  incident  to  Congressional  legislation, 
to  the  thousand  and  one  slow  and  ponderous  revolutions 
necessary  in  the  machinery  of  the  Government  for  the 
simplest  requisitions.  Again,  the  discipline  of  mind  and 
body  so  justly  a  subject  of  pride  in  the  military  estab- 
lished served  to  curb  dissatisfaction,  to  stem  unrest,  and 
to  direct  under  a  logical  and  well  ordered  system  of 
operations. 

The  first  two  years  and  a  half  after  the  transfer  of  the 
property  of  the  French  Canal  Company  to  the  United 
States  had  been  devoted  to  the  work  of  preparation  "con- 
sisting of  building  up  a  suitable  organization ;  procuring 
the  necessary  plant  and  equipment;  combating  insani- 
tary conditions,  eliminating  yellow  fever,  and  reducing 
malaria;  reconstructing  and  double  tracking  the  Panama 
Railroad ;  improving  terminal  facilities,  and  making  pro- 
vision for  adequate  and  efficient  transportation  to  the 
Isthmus  from  the  United  States,  a  large  item  in  itself; 
the  design  and  building  suitable  quarters  for  the  army  of 


276  OUR  UNITED  STATES 

nearly  5,000  American  employes  and  over  25,000  labor- 
ers; introducing  a  stable  form  of  civil  government  and 
administration,  including  courts,  schools,  police,  fire  de- 
partment, etc. — in  other  words,  doing  everything  neces- 
sary to  transform  the  jungle,  infested  with  mosquitoes 
and  various  low  forms  of  animal  and  vegetable  life, 
injurious  to  health,  into  a  comparatively  healthful  coun- 
try with  all  the  advantages  and  conveniences  and  equiva- 
lent conditions  of  life  as  regards  comfort,  food,  and 
quarters,  as  are  enjoyed  by  the  average  citizen  in  the 
United  States.  All  of  this  took  time  and  a  great  deal 
of  money,  but  it  has  resulted  in  advancing  the  condition 
and  developing  the  territory  in  question,  which  was  prac- 
tically in  the  same  state  that  it  was  in  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury, to  the  plane  of  twentieth  century  civilization — and 
all  in  two  and  one-half  years. 

"Attention  was  early  drawn  to  the  unsanitary  condition 
of  the  cities  of  Panama  and  Colon,"  writes  Rousseau, 
"and  it  was  soon  perceived  that  if  a  pestilence  should 
obtain  a  foothold  in  those  cities  it  would  seriously  affect 
canal  work.  To  eliminate  this  danger,  Panama  has  been 
provided  with  substantial  brick  pavements,  has  been  well- 
sewered  and  furnished  with  a  supply  of  wholesome  drink- 
ing water.  The  city  of  Colon  has  been  transformed  from 
a  swamp  into  a  town  likewise  comparable  with  a  city 
of  the  same  size  in  the  United  States,  so  far  as  pave- 
ments, water  supply  and  sewers  are  concerned. 

"During  the  period  of  preparation,  work  was  not 
neglected  on  the  canal  excavation,  and  every  effort  was 
made  to  make  the  'dirt  fly/  At  first,  the  only  tools  avail- 
able were  some  old  French  excavators,  locomotives, 
dump  cars,  and  drills.  Modern  American  equipment, 
consisting  of  dredges,  steam  shovels,  cars,  locomotives, 


ARMY  277 

etc.,  was  put  into  service  as  fast  as  it  could  be  pur- 
chased and  hurried  down  to  the  Isthmus. 

"On  June  29,  1906,  the  construction  of  a  lock  type  of 
canal  was  authorized  by  Congress.  The  85- foot  lock 
canal  which  is  being  built  consists  of  a  sea-level  entrance 
channel  7  miles  long  and  500  feet  wide  on  the  Atlantic 
side  to  the  foot  of  Gatun  locks.  On  the  Pacific  side  there 
is  a  corresponding  sea-level  channel  to  Miraflores  nearly 
8  miles  long.  For  15  of  the  50  miles  the  canal  will  be 
at  sea-level.  At  Gatun  the  85- foot  lake  level  is  obtained 
by  a  great  dam.  The  lake  is  confined  on  the  Pacific  side 
by  a  smaller  dam  between  the  hills  of  Pedro  Miguel,  32 
miles  away.  These  two  dams  make  a  great  lake  85  feet 
above  sea  level,  with  an  area  of  164  square  miles.  Ships 
pass  from  the  sea  level  to  the  lake  level,  and  vice  versa, 
at  Gatun  by  a  series  of  adjoining  locks,  'in  flight,'  as  it  is 
called,  three  in  all,  each  with  lifts  varying  from  25.2  to 
30.3  feet,  depending  upon  the  height  of  water  in  the 
lake  and  the  state  of  the  tide.  The  locks  are  in  duplicate. 
On  the  Pacific  side  Pedro  Miguel,  instead  of  dropping 
down  at  once  to  the  sea  level,  there  is  one  lift,  with 
duplicate  locks,  by  which  vessels  are  lowered  to  a  small 
lake  called  Miraflores  Lake,  which  is  542/3  feet  above 
the  mean  level  of  the  Pacific  Ocean.  One  mile  from 
Pedro  Miguel,  through  Miraflores  Lake,  are  the  Mira- 
fiores  locks,  where  by  two  lifts  with  locks  in  duplicate, 
vessels  reach  sea  level  on  the  Pacific  side. 

"From  deep  water  to  deep  water  the  distance  is  about 
50  miles,  and  it  is  expected  that  a  vessel  can  easily  make 
the  transit  within  less  than  twelve  hours." 

Certain  modifications  of  these  general  plans  have  taken 
place  as  the  work  has  progressed — the  size  and  capacity 
of  the  canal  has  been  increased  to  meet  the  requirements 


278          OUR  UNITED  STATES 

of  war  vessels  whose  dimensions  and  displacement  have 
materially  increased  during  the  last  few  years. 

The  Panama  Railroad  Company  was  under  direct 
charge  of  a  General  Superintendent.  All  of  the  work  of 
the  Commission  and  the  Panama  Railroad  Company  was 
under  the  complete  and  direct  control  of  the  Chairman 
and  *  Chief  Engineer  of  the  Commission,  who  was  also 
president  of  the  railroad.  "This  fact,"  remarks  Rous- 
seau, "contributed  very  largely  to  the  efficiency  and  the 
smooth,  steady  progress  of  the  work." 

The  plan  of  organization  of  the  Engineering  Depart- 
ment divided  all  construction  work  into  three  geographi- 
cal districts,  each  under  a  Division  Engineer  with  full 
control  over  and  responsibility  for  all  engineering  work 
in  his  district.  These  divisions  were: 

(1)  The    Atlantic    Division,    extending    from    deep 
water  to  Gatun   Lake,   including  the   Gatun   locks  and 
dam. 

(2)  The  Central  Division,  extending  from  Gatun  to 
Pedro  Miguel. 

(3)  The    Pacific    Division,    extending    from    Pedro 
Miguel  to  deep  water  in  the  Pacific  Ocean. 

In  general,  the  work  may  be  divided  into  three  classes : 

(1)  Wet  excavation,  viz.,  excavation  performed  by 
dredges.     This  amounts  to  about  12  per  cent,  of  the  total 
work. 

(2)  Dry    excavation.     This    includes    all    material 
(rock  and  earth)   removed  by  steam  shovels,  and  other 
power  excavators,  or  by  pick  and  shovel.     This   com- 
prises 49  per  cent,  of  the  work. 

(3)  The  third  class  of  work  covered  the  construction 
of   locks,    dams,   and    spillways.     The    dams    make   the 
lakes,  the  locks  enable  vessels  to  pass  from  sea  level  to 
lake  level,  or  vice  versa,  and  the  spillways  take  care  of 


ARMY  279 

the  overflow  from  the  lakes.  These  comprised  39  per 
cent,  of  the  canal  construction  work. 

A  brief  description  of  the  different  classes  according 
to  Mr.  H.  H.  Rousseau  (in  his  report  in  1910)  follows: 

(1)  Wet  or  dredging  excavation  amounts  to  about 
73,000,000  cubic  yards.  One  million  yards  is  contained 
in  a  cube  300  feet  on  each  side,  73,000,000  would  be 
equivalent  to  a  cube  measuring  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile 
on  one  side.  It  consists  of  soft  silt,  earth,  clay,  coral, 
and  hard  rock.  From  12  to  14  dredges  are  kept  at  work, 
and  their  monthly  output  is  not  far  from  1,300,000  cubic 
yards.  They  include  two  new  sea-going  suction  dredges, 
the  Culebra  and  Caribbean,  of  a  type  common  in  the 
United  States,  that  draw  the  material  up  into  bins  in 
their  own  hulls  by  centrifugal  pumps.  When  these  bins 
are  full,  they  steam  to  the  dumping  grounds,  empty  by 
opening  bottom  gates,  and  return  for  another  load. 
These  dredges  work  night  and  day,  stopping  only  for  fuel 
and  repairs.  Owing  to  their  method  of  operation  and 
the  material  they  handle,  they  have  the  largest  output  at 
the  least  unit  cost  of  any  of  the  dredges.  Upon  the  com- 
pletion of  the  canal  it  is  expected  that  these  dredges  will 
be  kept  on  the  Isthmus  for  use  on  any  small  amounts 
of  dredging  that  might  be  required  for  maintenance  work. 

"To  the  casual  visitor  to  the  Isthmus,"  comments  Rous- 
seau, "operations  in  connection  with  dry  excavations  are 
the  most  spectacular  and  interesting  of  any  work  in 
progress.  The  methods  are  somewhat  similar  to  those 
in  use  in  the  United  States,  but  nowhere  else  in  the  world 
have  excavating  operations  been  carried  on  on  such  a 
large  scale  and  in  the  precise  manner  followed  on  the 
Isthmus." 

The  various  excavating  operations  are  successively  as 
follows:  Drilling,  blasting,  loading,  transporting,  and 


280          OUR  UNITED  STATES 

dumping.  Tripod  drills  are  used  for  shallow  holes; 
well  or  churn  drills  for  the  deeper  holes ;  and  hand  drill- 
ing only  for  a  few  isolated  holes.  Compressed  air  fur- 
nishes the  power  to  the  drills  at  80  pounds  pressure. 
Each  shovel  is  preceded  by  a  battery  of  from  4  to  12 
drills,  covering  a  field  from  30  to  40  feet  wide,  which 
keeps  well  ahead  of  the  shovel.  Holes  are  drilled  from 
15  to  30  feet  deep  and  from  6  to  16  feet  apart  depending 
upon  the  material  and  conditions.  Each  hole  is  loaded 
with  a  charge  of  from  75  to  200  pounds  of  dynamite,  45 
and  60  per  cent,  dynamite  being  used  principally.  One 
million  pounds  of  dynamite  are  being  used  monthly. 
After  being  loaded,  the  holes  are  connected  up  in  parallel 
and  discharged  by  electric  current.  While  the  greatest 
care  practicable  is  taken  in  all  operations  connected  with 
the  handling  of  dynamite,  a  number  of  accidents  have 
occurred  and  a  number  of  lives  have  been  lost,  mostly 
alien  laborers. 

In  order  to  be  on  the  safe  side  no  holes  are  loaded 
now  which  cannot  be  fired  the  same  day.  The  large 
blasts  break  the  rock  into  fragments  small  enough  to  be 
handled  by  the  steam  shovels.  Any  large  pieces  are 
broken  into  smaller  fragments  after  the  main  blast  by 
what  are  called  'dobie'  blasts,  consisting  of  a  small  quan- 
tity of  dynamite  laid  on  the  surface  of  the  rock,  covered 
with  clay  and  discharged  by  fuse.  Power  to  run  the 
drills  is  furnished  by  one  of  the  largest  air  plants  and 
longest  supply  mains  in  the  world.  The  smaller  size 
steam  shovels  weigh  70  tons  and  have  2%  yard  dippers, 
and  the  large  size  shovels  95  tons  and  are  equipped  with 
4  and  5  yard  dippers.  They  are  self-propelling  and  are 
able  to  make  a  cut  over  20  feet  deep.  There  are  100 
in  all. 

The  working  day  for  the  shovel  is  eight  hours — from 


ARMY  281 

7  to  11  and  from  1  to  5.  At  5  o'clock  the  various  supply 
and  repair  trains  start  out  promptly  from  the  different 
yards  for  the  'cut/  where  they  spend  the  night  making 
repairs,  and  getting  ready  for  the  next  day's  work.  This 
consists  in  supplying  each  shovel  with  a  ton  and  a  half 
or  so  of  coal,  with  oil  and  other  supplies.  Repair  gangs 
are  required  to  make  all  the  necessary  adjustments  and 
repairs  so  that  the  shovel  can  begin  digging  at  7  o'clock 
the  next  morning. 

The  large  shops  at  Empire,  where  600  men  are  em- 
ployed, are  devoted  to  repairs  of  steam  shovels  and  steam 
shovel  parts.  Repair  parts  are  purchased  in  the  United 
States  unless  they  can  be  manufactured  more  cheaply 
on  the  Isthmus.  The  greater  part  of  the  excavated 
material  is  loaded  into  long,  flat  wooden  cars  with  one 
high  side,  called  'Lodgerwood  flats/  One  thousand 
eight  hundred  of  these  cars  have  been  purchased.  Orig- 
inally there  were  16  cars  to  the  train.  It  has  since  been 
found  practicable  to  increase  the  number  to  18  and  19. 
Each  car  has  a  capacity  of  from  18  to  20  cubic  yards, 
or  about  350  cubic  yards  to  the  train,  making  a  load  of 
about  500  tons.  Each  shovel  is  able  on  an  average  to 
load  from  three  to  four  trains  a  day. 

Locomotives  are  housed  at  night  in  engine  houses  at 
various  points  along  the  line,  where  they  are  coaled  and 
given  light  running  repairs.  Every  morning  they  begin 
to  leave  the  engine  houses  promptly  at  6.30,  and  in  five 
minutes  the  30  or  40  locomotives  have  departed.  One 
hundred  and  sixty  large  American  locomotives  have  been 
purchased  by  the  commission.  In  addition  the  Panama 
Railroad  has  82  locomotives  and  about  130  old  French 
locomotives  have  been  repaired  and  put  into  commission 
service. 

The  number  of  cars  in  use  by  the  commission  is  nearly 


282  OUR  UNITED  STATES 

4,500  and  in  addition  there  are  a  large  number  of  un- 
loaders,  plows,  spreaders,  track  shifters,  cranes,  pile 
drivers,  and  smaller  pieces  of  miscellaneous  equipment. 
Locomotives,  cars,  and  other  equipment,  except  steam 
shovels,  are  repaired  at  the  Gorgona  shops,  where  a 
force  of  1,000  men  are  employed.  The  French  company 
started  these  shops,  which  have  since  been  rebuilt  and 
enlarged.  An  iron  foundry  and  a  brass  foundry  are 
also  located  at  the  Gorgona  shops. 

The  locks  and  the  spillways  may  be  described  generally 
as  appurtenances  of  the  dam.  The  spillway  consists  of 
a  concrete-lined  opening  cut  through  a  hill  of  rock  along 
the  line  of  the  dam  near  the  centre,  supplied  with  gates 
of  suitable  design  to  allow  the  lake  level  to  be  regulated. 
The  locks  are  built  in  an  excavation  at  the  east  end  of 
the  dam,  in  rock,  and  afford  means  for  passing  vessels 
in  and  out  of  the  lake  on  the  Atlantic  side. 

The  dam  proper  is  about  9,000  feet  long  over  all, 
measured  on  its  crest,  including  locks  and  spillway,  and 
for  only  500  feet  of  this  length  will  it  be  subjected  to  a 
pressure  of  85  feet  of  water,  as  the  natural  surface  on 
which  it  is  built  rises  rapidly  after  passing  by  the  old 
bed  of  the  Chargres  River.  For  only  about  half  of  its 
length  will  the  head  of  water  on  the  dam  be  over  50 
feet.  Hard  rock  underlies  the  dam  near  the  surface  of 
the  ground  except  for  about  one-fifth  of  its  length,  where 
the  rock  dips  down  to  a  minimum  depth  below  sea  level 
of  from  195  feet  in  the  depression  east  of  the  spillway 
to  255  feet  in  that  west  of  the  spillway.  These  depres- 
sions or  valleys  have  during  past  ages  filled  up,  and 
measured  from  sea  level  down,  the  first  80  feet  consists 
of  sand  and  clay;  the  next  100  feet  or  so  is  of  stiff  blue 
clay ;  the  last  20  to  50  feet  is  a  conglomerate  compost  of 
sand,  shell,  and  stone.  This  material  is  all  impervious 


ARMY  283 

and  of  sufficient  bearing  capacity  to  support  the  dam, 
and  thus  fulfils  the  essential  requirements.  The  entire 
area  to  be  covered  by  the  dam  and  adjacent  territory  has 
been  probably  more  carefully  examined  by  borings,  test 
pits,  etc.,  than  that  for  any  other  similar  structure. 

The  Gatun  locks  are  in  pairs  each  having  a  width  of 
110  feet  and  a  usable  length  of  1,000  feet.  Each  lock 
consists  of  a  chamber,  with  walls  and  bottom  of  con- 
crete, and  with  water-tight  gates  at  the  ends.  The  level 
of  water  in  the  locks  is  regulated  through  openings  in 
the  bottom,  by  the  operation  of  valves  in  the  side  and 
centre  walls,  which  permit  water  to  flow  into  and  out  of 
the  locks  by  gravity.  These  locks  are  the  largest  that 
have  ever  been  designed. 

The  controlling  principles  which  have  been  followed 
in  the  design  of  the  locks  have  been : 

First,  to  make  them  safe;  and,  second,  to  make  them 
adequate  in  size  and  arrangements. 

The  gates  consist  of  two  leaves  and  are  massive  steel 
structures,  each  leaf  being  7  feet  thick  and  65  feet  long. 
The  leaves  for  different  locks  vary  in  height  from  47  to 
82  feet.  They  will  weigh  from  400  to  750  tons  each. 
Ninety-two  leaves  will  be  required  for  the  entire  canal, 
the  total  weighing  58,000  tons. 

Electricity  will  be  used  not  only  to  tow  vessels  through 
the  locks,  but  also  to  operate  all  the  gates,  valves,  emer- 
gency dams,  etc.,  power  being  generated  by  water  tur- 
bines from  the  head  created  by  Gatun  Lake. 

The  floor  of  the  locks  at  Gatun  rests  upon  either  the 
sandstone  or  conglomerate,  and  there  will  be  a  thickness 
of  not  less  than  20  feet  of  concrete,  or  concrete  and  hard, 
impermeable  rock  between  the  bottom  of  the  locks  and 
the  water-bearing  sand  stone. 

Concrete  curtain  walls  6  feet  thick  and  from  8  to  18 


284  OUR  UNITED  STATES 

feet  below  sea  level  are  built  around  the  upper  locks, 
from  the  sill  of  the  emergency  dam  to  the  lower  end  of 
the  intermediate  gate  abutments,  to  act  as  a  water  cut-off 
where  the  concrete  is  less  than  20  feet  in  thickness,  and 
old  French  rails  have  been  embedded  in  the  underlying 
rock  to  act  as  anchors  for  the  concrete,  tying  it  to  the 
portion  of  the  rock  which  acts  as  the  floor. 

At  Pedro  Miguel  there  is  to  be  a  single  set  of  locks 
with  one  lift  of  30  feet.  The  locks  are  similar  to  the 
Gatun  locks  in  design. 

At  Miraflores  there  is  to  be  a  flight  of  locks  in  pairs, 
with  two  lifts  of  27y2  feet  each  (at  mean  tide).  The 
dams  extend  from  the  upper  ends  of  the  locks  to  the 
nearest  hill  on  each  side. 

"If  one  has  time,"  writes  Mr.  Barrett,  "before  cross- 
ing the  Isthmus  or  after  he  returns  from  Panama  to  go 
about  Colon  and  Cristobal,  he  should  visit  the  great  plant 
of  the  Quartermaster  and  Subsistence  Departments 
imder  charge  of  Col.  C.  A.  Devol,  Chief  Quartermaster 
and  Lieut.-Col.  Eugene  T.  Wilson,  Subsistence  Officer, 
from  which  each  day  go  out  the  food  and  supplies  for 
45,000  employes  and  the  stores  and  materials  to  keep 
the  vast  work  proceeding  without  a  break." 

The  Quarter  Master's  Department  performs  all  duties 
in  connection  with  the  recruiting  of  laborers,  the  hous- 
ing of  employes,  the  construction  and  repair  of  build- 
ings, the  purchase  of  material  on  the  Isthmus,  the  custody 
and  issue  of  all  material  from  storehouses,  and  the  sup- 
plying of  animal  transportation. 

Under  executive  order  no  one  not  an  American  citizen 
can  be  employed  on  the  gold  roll.  They  are  all  furnished 
with  suitable  quarters. 

The  cost  of  constructing  quarters  for  bachelors  aver- 
ages from  $350  to  $500  per  man,  and  for  families,  $1,200 


ARMY  285 

up.  In  addition  to  quarters,  the  Commission  furnishes 
employes  electric  light,  certain  furniture,  coal  for  kitchen 
stoves,  distilled  water  and  medical  service  without 
charge. 

The  number  of  silver  employes  on  the  average  in 
any  one  month  is  much  greater  than  the  number  working 
on  any  one  day.  The  average  West  Indian  laborer  will 
not  work  as  long  as  he  has  a  dollar  in  his  pocket,  and  it 
is  a  common  saying  that  if  such  a  laborer's  pay  is 
doubled  he  will  only  work  half  as  many  days.  Silver 
employes  are  housed  generally  in  barracks,  which,  on  an 
average  at  the  present  time,  contain  from  20  to  30  men. 

There  has  been  a  movement  among  the  West  Indian 
laborers  to  go  into  the  "bush,"  where  they  put  up  a 
small  shack,  cultivate  a  small  plot  of  ground,  and  feel 
thoroughly  contented  and  comfortable,  housing  and  feed- 
ing themselves  independently  of  the  Commission. 

The  labor  problem  is  one  of  the  most  difficult  to  solve 
on  any  construction  work  in  the  Tropics.  In  the  early 
fifties  the  construction  of  the  Panama  Railroad  was 
greatly  handicapped  by  lack  of  suitable  labor.  The 
French  met  the  same  difficulty,  and  since  the  American 
occupation  the  problem  of  getting  labor,  training  it,  and 
keeping  it  at  work  has  been  paramount.  The  greatest 
success  has  been  attained  through  importing  European 
labourers  to  compete  with  and  set  the  pace  for  the  West 
Indian  laborers.  West  Indian  laborers  have  been 
recruited  from  Guadaloupe,  Martinique,  Trinidad  and 
St.  Kitts. 

The  Department  of  Examination  of  Accounts  and  Dis- 
bursements, the  Mechanical  Division,  and  in  the  United 
States  the  Purchasing  Department  all  form  a  part  of  the 
Department  of  Construction  and  Engineering  on  the 
Isthmus. 


286  OUR  UNITED  STATES 

The  Disbursing  Officer  is  the  pay  officer.  The  Isth- 
mian pay  rolls  average  about  $1,500,000  per  month. 
American  employes  and  European  laborers  are  paid  in 
gold.  West  Indian  laborers  are  paid  in  silver.  Over 
42  tons  of  silver  are  paid  out  monthly.  The  pay  train 
travels  over  the  Isthmus  once  a  month,  from  $400,000 
to  $450,000  of  the  monthly  earnings  of  employes  are 
used  to  purchase  money  orders  on  the  United  States  and 
elsewhere. 

The  Examiner  of  Accounts  has  charge  of  the  general 
books  of  the  commission  and,  with  his  force  of  115  men, 
classifies  all  expenditures;  handles  the  accounting  for 
coupon  books,  and  meal  tickets;  examines  claims  and 
accounts  presented  for  payment  and  prepares  the  proper 
vouchers;  makes  a  monthly  administrative  examination 
of  the  Disbursing  Officer's  accounts  and  counts  the  cash 
in  the  hands  of  the  Disbursing  Officer  every  six  months ; 
inspects  the  books  and  accounts  of  all  employes  hand- 
ling money  and  coupon  books ;  checks  all  pay  rolls ;  exam- 
ines and  checks  daily,  time  books  of  all  hourly  employes ; 
reports  misconduct  of  employes,  misuse  of  property 
and  violation  of  rules  and  regulations  in  connection  with 
the  efficient  and  economical  application  of  labour  and 
material,  handles  employes'  injury  claims,  and  audits 
accounts  of  all  revenue  officers. 

The  life  of  Americans  on  the  Isthmus  has  become 
established  in  grooves  corresponding  very  closely  to  life 
in  the  United  States.  The  Y.  M.  C.  A.  club  houses  in  the 
larger  settlements  afford  recreation  and  there  are  social 
and  other  organizations  of  the  same  character  as  are  to 
be  found  in  the  United  States.  There  are  over  1,500 
American  women  who  are  sharing  alike  the  comforts  and 
discomforts  of  Isthmian  life  with  their  husbands,  and 
about  the  same  number  of  American  children,  not 


ARMY  287 

including  wives  and  children  of  Panama  Railroad 
employes. 

In  1906  a  large  hotel,  the  well-known  Tivoli  Hotel,  was 
constructed  at  Ancon.  This  hotel  is  a  rendezvous  for 
all  Americans  on  the  Isthmus.  It  is  operated  by  the 
Subsistence  Department  so  as  to  be  self-supporting — and 
the  charges  are  in  accordance  with  this  requirement. 

The  cold-storage  plant  in  Colon  is  operated  by  the 
Commissary  Department,  and  a  trip  through  this  plant 
gives  one  a  very  good  idea  of  the  scale  of  operations  on 
the  Isthmus.  From  75  to  80  tons  of  ice  are  made  daily, 
which  is  sold  at  the  rate  of  40  cents  a  hundred  pounds. 
The  cold-storage  supply  of  meats,  vegetables,  etc.,  is  kept 
in  this  plant,  and  shipments  are  made  daily  along  the  line 
amounting  to  nearly  100  tons  per  day,  including  ice. 

The  daily  output  of  the  bakery  is  13,000  loaves  of 
bread,  2,400  rolls,  290  pies,  625  pounds  of  roasted  coffee, 
450  pounds  of  cake. 

In  the  laundry  7,500  pieces  are  daily  washed  and 
ironed. 

The  foregoing  represents,  generally,  the  organization 
of  the  Department  of  Construction  and  Engineering. 
In  addition,  there  are  two  other  co-ordinate  departments, 
and  the  office  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Commission  and 
the  Panama  Railroad  and  steamship  line,  all  under  Col- 
onel Goethals,  Chairman  of  the  Commission,  the  latter 
coming  under  his  jurisdiction  in  his  capacity  as  Presi- 
dent of  the  Panama  Railroad. 

The  Department  of  Civil  Administration  was  created 
to  administer  civil  government  within  the  Canal  Zone; 
that  is,  it  exercises  the  governmental  rights  conveyed  by 
Panama  to  the  United  States  in  maintaining  and  protect- 
ing the  inhabitants  of  the  Zone  in  the  free  enjoyment  of 
their  liberty,  property  and  religion.  The  Chairman  of 


288          OUR  UNITED  STATES 

the  Commission,  in  whom  is  vested,  by  the  President, 
the  authority  of  the  chief  executive  of  the  Canal  Zone, 
has  delegated  that  authority  to  a  member  of  the  Commis- 
sion, who  is  known  as  head  of  the  Department  of  Civil 
Administration.  The  work  of  this  department  is  divided 
among  the  divisions  of  Posts,  Customs  and  Revenues, 
Police  and  Prisons,  Schools,  Fire  Protection,  and  Public 
Works.  The  offices  of  Prosecuting  Attorney,  Treasurer, 
and  Auditor  of  the  Canal  Zone,  and  the  Judiciary.  The 
latter  includes  the  supreme,  circuit  and  district  courts  of 
the  Zone. 

The  Division  of  Public  Works  has  supervision  over 
the  eight  public  markets,  the  two  public  slaughter  houses, 
and  the  construction  and  maintenance  of  roads  and  trails. 

The  wonderful  organization  and  administration  of  the 
Canal  and  the  Canal  Zone  which  the  Great  Goethals  and 
his  efficient  staff  developed  during  the  years  of  military 
administration  are  a  conclusive  evidence  of  the  value 
of  military  organization  in  the  handling  of  public  works. 
The  Canal,  a  source  of  national  pride,  is  a  lasting  mem- 
orial to  the  efficiency  of  the  Army  officers  of  the  United 
States  and  a  fitting  conclusion  to  the  long  line  of  splendid 
achievements  in  which  the  trained  soldier  has  led  the 
Nation  an  example  for  honest  administration,  prosperity 
and  peace. 


14  DAY  USE 

RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED 
LOAN  DEPT. 

This  book  is  due  on  the  last  date  stamped  below,  or 

on  the  date  to  which  renewed. 
Renewed  books  are  subject  to  immediate  recall. 


REC'D  LD 


MAY  12  '1953 


LD 


I 

General  Library 
LD  21A-50m-8,'57                                University  of  California 
(C8481slO)476B                                                 Berkeley 

YB  05659 


M194954 

UA  2  r 


THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


